Explosions rock Kiev as Russia prepares peace terms after massive prisoner deal

Kiev is on alert for a Russian drone and missile attack, the Ukrainian capital's mayor Vitali Klitschko has said, after explosions rocked Kiev.

"Explosions in the capital. Air defences have been activated. The city and the region are under a combined enemy attack," he wrote on Telegram early on Saturday.

At least eight people were wounded in the "massive" attack, Klitschko said, adding that two victims had been hospitalised and the others were being treated at the scene.

The Ukrainian Air Force warned ballistic missiles were heading towards the capital.

The head of the capital's civil and military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, reported two fires in the Sviatochynskyi district, missile debris falling in the Obolonskyi district, and drone debris falling on a residential building in the Solomianskyi district.

Russian missiles killed two people and wounded several others in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Friday, according to authorities.

The Russian military said Ukraine had targeted it with 788 drones and missiles since Tuesday, 776 of which had been shot down.

'1,000-for-1,000 swap'

Saturday's attacks came after Ukraine and Russia began a major prisoner exchange Friday, which if completed, would be the biggest swap since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out more than three years ago.

Both sides received 390 people in the first stage and are expected to exchange 1,000 each in total under an agreement reached at direct talks in Istanbul last week.

Russia has signalled it will send Ukraine its terms for a peace settlement after the swap, which is set to be staggered over three days.

Russia will hand over a draft settlement document to Ukraine once a prisoner exchange is finalised, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday, reiterating Moscow’s commitment to the diplomatic track initiated in Istanbul.

Lavrov said the prisoner swap, based on the "thousand for thousand" formula, marked the first direct agreement between Russia and Ukraine in three years.

"We are completing our preparatory work," he noted, adding that the draft document would follow once the exchange was implemented.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the international response. "We are still waiting for a reaction from the UN to Ukraine’s attacks on civilian targets and its violations of the principles of warfare," he said.

Talks in Istanbul, which previously yielded preliminary progress, included commitments to humanitarian actions such as prisoner exchanges.

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Source: TRT