Despite recent military defeats for Moscow and the toll, the war has taken on the invaded nation after nearly seven months of fighting, Russian and Ukrainian soldiers exchanged missile and artillery barrages on Thursday.
Five people were hurt and one person died as a result of Russian missile strikes in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian officials. Donetsk officials under separatist control reported that at least six individuals had been killed by Ukrainian bombardment.
Even though the fighting went on, the two sides were able to come to terms with a significant prisoner transfer. In order to supplement his forces in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin started calling up reserve troops at the same time.
The deputy of the Ukrainian president's office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, reported that a hotel in Zaporizhzhia had been hit and that rescuers were working to extricate those who were entrapped in the debris.
Oleksandr Starukh, the region's governor, claimed that Russian forces had damaged residential buildings and targeted infrastructure. Although the city itself is in Ukrainian hands, the region is one of four where Moscow-installed officials intend to hold referendums beginning this Friday on joining Russia.
Alexei Kulemzin, the mayor of the city of Donetsk that is under separatist control, claimed that a covered market and a minivan were struck by Ukrainian artillery. According to the regional governor of Dnipropetrovsk, an overnight Russian bombardment in Nikopol, which is located across the river from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, resulted in the death of one person.
The high-profile prisoner swap saw the announcement of an exchange of 215 Ukrainian and foreign combatants, 200 of them for a single person, a Putin friend, only hours before Thursday's strikes. The leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, acknowledged that the exchange included Putin supporter and pro-Russian Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk.
Among the combatants who were rescued were 10 foreigners, including five British citizens and two American military veterans who had fought with Ukrainian forces, as well as Ukrainian defenders of a steel mill in Mariupol during a protracted Russian siege. In Russian-occupied territories, several of those who were liberated had been sentenced to death.
The high-profile prisoner swap saw the announcement of an exchange of 215 Ukrainian and foreign combatants, 200 of them for a single person, a Putin friend, only hours before Thursday's strikes. The leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, acknowledged that the exchange included Putin supporter and pro-Russian Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk.
Among the combatants who were rescued were 10 foreigners, including five British citizens and two American military veterans who had fought with Ukrainian forces, as well as Ukrainian defenders of a steel mill in Mariupol during a protracted Russian siege. In Russian-occupied territories, several of those who were liberated had been sentenced to death.
In light of recent battlefield losses and other setbacks that undermined the aura of Russian military might, it appeared that the Kremlin was attempting to dispel any notion of weakness or waining determination to achieve its wartime goals through the continuation of Russian missile attacks and the beginning of a partial mobilisation of Russians into the armed forces.
In rare protests in dozens of Russian towns on Wednesday, Putin's order to partially mobilise reserve soldiers to support his forces in Ukraine was criticised in the West as a sign of weakness and desperation. According to the independent Russian human rights organisation OVD-Info, more than 1,300 Russians were detained during the anti-war protests.
In response to Moscow's declaration of partial military mobilisation, some of Russia's neighbours, including Estonia, have been on high alert about potential danger from Russia. Estonia stated Thursday that it will begin an exercise with approximately 2,900 reservists and volunteers.
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