Russia and Ukraine agree new prisoner exchange after talks

Ukraine's drone operation involved smuggling first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia in wooden mobile houses and transporting them by truck close to airfields.

The drones then flew to attack Russia's strategic bombers. On the day of the attack, Russian media outlets shared footage from social media showing the drones rising from the containers.

Since early in the war, Ukraine has occasionally struck air bases hosting Russia's nuclear-capable strategic bombers, prompting the Russian Air Force to redeploy most of them to regions farther from the front line.

However, as the drones launched on Sunday were launched from trucks close to the targeted bases in five Russian regions, the military's defenses had virtually no time to prepare for them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the complex operation was directed from an office located next to the FSB security service office in one of the Russian regions. He did not elaborate on the location of the office in Russia. The Ukrainian side said that all participants left Russia before the operation began.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities added Artem Timofeev, a 37-year-old born in Ukraine who moved to Russia several years ago, to a wanted list. According to the Russian Telegram channel Baza, he is the owner of the trucks that transported the drones to the airfields.

Trump not informed 

Both Ukrainian and US officials told media that Ukrainian officials did not give US President Donald Trump's administration advance notice of the attack.

Trump, who claimed that Ukraine "does not have cards" during a fiery exchange with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February, has not yet commented on the Ukrainian attack.

Since Trump reprimanded Zelenskyy, Washington has temporarily halted military aid, intelligence sharing, and access to satellite imagery in an attempt to push Ukraine to the negotiating table.

Efforts led by the US to push the two sides into accepting a ceasefire have failed thus far. Although Ukraine has accepted a proposal for a temporary ceasefire, the Kremlin has effectively rejected it.

The audacity and scale of Ukraine's daring drone attack on Russian airfields on Sunday made headlines around the world.

More than 100 Ukrainian first-person view drones launched from trucks struck four Russian air bases simultaneously in three time zones, including Belaya air base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from Ukraine.

The strikes also targeted Russian airbases in Olenya, in the Arctic near Finland, and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo, both east of Moscow.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it spent more than 18 months painstakingly planning the operation, codenamed "Spiderweb." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally oversaw it. 

According to Ukrainian officials, the operation destroyed or heavily damaged 41 Russian planes, about a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet. The Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers, as well as the Beriev A-50 early warning aircraft, were hit. 

Tu-95, code-named "Bear" by NATO, is a four-engine turboprop aircraft. It was designed in the 1950s to rival the US B-52 bomber. Before Sunday, experts estimated that Russia had a fleet of about 60 such aircraft.

The Tupolev Tu-22M, a twin-engine supersonic bomber designed in the 1970s, was given the NATO code name "Backfire." Before Sunday's drone strike, Russia was estimated to have between 50 and 60 Tu-22M3s in service.

Moscow has previously used the Tu-95 and Tu-22M bombers to launch missiles at Ukraine. The A-50s are used to coordinate targets and detect air defenses and guided missiles.

Ukrainian officials estimated the damage from the attack at $7 billion (€6.1 billion).

However, the strike's impact is far-reaching because Russia no longer produces Tu-22 or Tu-95 bomber planes.

This means that destroyed planes cannot be replaced.

Russia also has the Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber, of which fewer than 20 are in service. The country recently resumed producing them, albeit at a slow pace.

In December, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced that the Russian air force will receive four upgraded Tu-160s in 2025. It's not known, however, if they were produced from scratch.

Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine had launched drone strikes against Russian military airfields in five regions.

The ministry stated that air attacks were repelled in all but two regions: Murmansk in the far north and Irkutsk in Siberia. In these two regions, "the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire."

The Russian state and state-controlled media mostly downplayed the attack. For example, Russia-1 TV channel on Sunday evening spent for a little over a minute on it with a brief Ministry of Defense' statement read out.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his willingness to host a meeting between the leaders of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine in Turkey in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

 "My greatest wish for both sides is to bring both (Russia's Vladimir) Putin and (Ukraine's Volodymyr) Zelensky together in Istanbul or Ankara, and even to bring (US President) Mr (Donald) Trump to their side, if they accept," he said.

Erdogan added that Turkey would "take steps" to facilitate such a meeting. 

Keen to push Russia and Ukraine toward a peace settlement, Trump said in May that he was keeping open the possibility of traveling to Turkey for the first round of direct Russian-Ukrainian talks, provided there was meaningful progress.

Zelenskyy said he was willing to meet with Putinand even came to Turkey. However, Russia sent low-key delegations to the negotiations, and the leaders of the countries were not present.

During negotiations in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange all prisoners of war who are severely wounded, as well as all prisoners under the age of 25. They also agreed to exchange the remains of soldiers who were killed.

"We agreed to exchange all-for-all seriously wounded and seriously sick prisoners of war. The second category is young soldiers who are from 18 to 25 years old — all-for-all. Also we agreed to return 6,000 bodies of fallen soldiers," Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters.

Vladimir Medinsky, the lead Russian negotiator, confirmed the agreement on the POW exchange, adding that Russia is planning to swap at least 1,000 soldiers.

He also said Russia had suggested a ceasefire of two to three days in certain areas. 

"We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line so that commanders can collect the bodies of their soldiers," Medinsky said.

Ukraine is pushing for a full and unconditional ceasefire. However, Russia rejected this proposal at the peace negotiations in Istanbul, according to Kyiv negotiator Sergiy Kyslytsya.

The biggest prisoner swap up to date , which took place in May, was the only tangible result of the previous round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul.

Ukraine believes that all key issues in talks with Russia can only be resolved at the level of the leaders of the countries, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said after talks with the Russian delegation in Istanbul.

Ukraine proposed to hold a next round of talks with Russia before the end of June, after the two sides swapped documents outlining their peace roadmaps in Istanbul. 

"We propose to the Russian side to hold a meeting by the end of this month, from 20th to 30th of June," Umerov said after talks, adding that the delegations should try to agree a meeting between presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, confirmed that the two sides exchanged memorandums.

The second round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul ended after lasting just over an hour.

"It didn't end negatively," said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keseli.

Following the conclusion of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine and Russia are working on a new prisoner exchange.

The delegations "exchanged documents through the Turkish side, and we are preparing a new release of prisoners of the war," Zelenskyy said while attending a meeting of Central and Northern European states in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, said that Ukrainian delegates at the Istanbul peace talks handed a list of children that Kyiv wants Moscow to return to Russian negotiators.

According to Ukrainian officials, hundreds of children were forcibly removed from Ukrainian territory by Russian forces, and Ukraine wants them returned as part of a peace deal. Moscow claims the children were relocated for their safety.

Expectations were low before the talks began, as both parties submitted written proposals laying out their demands, showing them far apart from any agreement on ending the war. 

Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years, wants an internationally monitored 30-day ceasefire as a starting point for peace talks.

The solution is based on a US proposal.

Moscow, for its part, has set out preconditions that include halting mobilization and renouncing Western arms deliveries, aiming to stop Ukraine from using any ceasefire to regroup militarily.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will press US President Donald Trump for a "fair ceasefire" in Ukraine at their first in-person meeting in Washington on Thursday, a German government spokesperson said Monday.

"The government's objectives are clear — the chancellor will do everything in his power to persuade the US president, including by raising the possibility of sanctions," the spokesperson told reporters in Berlin.

The official said Merz was aware of a push by US Senator Lindsey Graham for tougher sanctions on Russia, but that the chancellor would not comment on US domestic affairs.

While the Russian Air Force has suffered a significant loss of capability from Ukraine's drone strikes on its airfields, Moscow will still be able to launch attacks against Ukraine from Russian territory, military expert Carlo Masala has told DW.

Masala, an international politics professor at the Bundeswehr University Munich, said Russia would still have the ability to continue attacking Ukraine from Russian airspace with glide bombs, cruise missiles, and rockets.

However, he said it was interesting that the attacks had been launched from inside Russia and had been so long in the planning.

"It is indeed a spectacular operation, considering that, according to Ukraine, it had been prepared for 15 to 18 months, [and that] it took place in Russia," said Masala. "So, no long-range drones were involved."

He also said the strikes would be of symbolic importance, particularly for Ukraine's allies.

"It is a signal to Russia about what they are capable of. It is a signal to the West about what they are capable of."

"In recent months, we've only been discussing the weakening Ukrainian armed forces in Donbas, which are struggling to hold the front and Russian territorial gains, albeit few," said Masala.

"Now Ukraine is once again demonstrating that it is capable of things that no one really expected of it. Therefore, this is an important symbolic signal to the states supporting Ukraine."

Ukraine estimates the damage at approximately $7 billion (about €6.1 billion), claiming that about 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers were affected.

A source in Kyiv's delegation in Istanbul has told the AFP news agency that Ukraine is ready to make significant progress towards peace at a second round of talks with Russian officials in Istanbul.

"The Ukrainian delegation came to Istanbul with a clear agenda and readiness to take big steps toward peace," the source said, adding that Ukraine hopes the Russian side will "not just repeat the same previous ultimatums."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he wants to work with Karol Nawrocki, who won Poland's presidential election, despite the nationalist historian's criticism of Kyiv's plans to join NATO and the EU.

Nawrocki narrowly defeated Warsaw's pro-EU mayor for the Polish presidency. He has throughout his campaign criticized Kyiv, including Zelenskyy personally, and has used nationalist rhetoric on Ukrainian refugees living in Poland. 

"I look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with Poland and with President Nawrocki personally," Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.

"By reinforcing one another on our continent, we give greater strength to Europe in global competition and bring the achievement of real and lasting peace closer," Zelenskyy said. 

Poland took in more than a million Ukrainians since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, the country has in recent years seen growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment — a trend that was accelerated during the presidential race. 

The pro-EU Polish government has been one of Ukraine's and Zelenskyy's main supporters, but Nawrocki has criticized the Ukrainian leader, accusing him of "behaving in an indecent manner towards his allies." 

Nawrocki has also urged Ukraine to allow the exhumations of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II. The issue has long been a point of tension between the neighbors. 

Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday it had intercepted 162 Ukrainian drones overnight, soon after Ukraine amped up its attacks on Russian soil over the weekend.

"Air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 162 Ukrainian drones" between 1710 GMT and 2300 GMT on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

About 57 of the drones were intercepted in Kursk region and 31 in Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, authorities said.

A Russian drone attack hit Kharkiv city in eastern Ukraine, injuring six.

Military governor Oleh Syniehubov posted on Telegram that two of those injured were children.

Rockets in Kharkiv also damaged a road, a dormitory and three residential buildings. 

Reuters news agency reported that Russian shelling had hit Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, killing five people and injuring nine

Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram that three women had died due to shelling in the village of Ternuvate near Zaporizhzhia. Some buildings and a shop were damaged. 

A guided aerial bomb killed a man in a nearby district, Fedorov added.

The city of Nikopol near the frontline was also hit, with three people being injured, local authorities said.
 

Officials from Kyiv and Moscow are set to meet in Istanbul Monday at 1:00 pm local time (1000 GMT) at the Ciragan Palace, where they will discuss ending the conflict that has gone on for more than three years. 

This will be the second round of talkssince the invasion began, and are being held at the behest of US President Donald Trump. During the first round of talks in Istanbul last month, both parties agreed on a large-scale prisoner swap and spoke about their visions of a peace deal. 

The talks come on the heels of Ukraine's most brazen attacks on Russian airbasessince the beginning of the war, which hit several strategic bombers. 

Russia has not shared its demands in advance, and said it will present a "memorandum" of peace terms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile has asked for a full ceasefire and release of prisoners. 

He has also asked for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
      
The Russian delegation will be led by Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led similar talks in 2022. The Ukrainian team will be lead by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. 

A German government spokesperson said on Sunday that diplomatic advisors from Germany, France and Britain will also be present. 
  

Ukrainian drones hit airfields in five regions of Russia, with Kyiv's domestic intelligence agency saying it caused $7 billion (€6.17 billion) in damage. Security officials said 41 Russian planes had been destroyed. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was an "absolutely brilliant result."

Kyiv also reported a record number of Russian missile and drone attacks on Sunday, saying Russia launched 472 drones and seven missiles overnight.

One of the Russian missiles hit a training center, killing at least 12 Ukrainian troops. 

As the two countries prepare for the possible next round of ceasefire talks in Turkey, Russia confirmed that Ukrainian drones hit airfields in five regions.

DW will provide the latest news, analysis, and insights from our reporters and correspondents regarding Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.