Ukraine: Explosion near army recruitment center kills one

An explosion occurred near a military recruitment center in the western Ukrainian city of Kamianets-Podilskyi on Wednesday, police said, without giving further details.

According to Sergii Tiurin, the head of the Khmelnytsky Regional State Administration, one person was killed and four others were injured in the explosion.

The person killed was a civilian who brought the explosive device, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne said, citing its own sources.

What do we know about attacks on draft offices?

Suffering from a manpower shortage, Ukraine has been trying to replenish the ranks of its army, which is struggling to hold off Russian troops, but is facing waning enthusiasm for military service.

The attack in Kamianets-Podilskyi was the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting draft offices or conscription officers in recent days. These incidents included a fatal shooting and two explosions.

On Saturday, a blast in Rivne, a city in northwest Ukraine, killed one person and wounded six at a recruitment center.

Police blame Russian spy agencies

Ukraine's national police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said Russia's spy agencies were responsible for a spate of explosions at military draft offices.

"We clearly understand, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, that this is a specific attack by the special services of the Russian Federation to ... destabilize the situation," Vyhivskyi said.

He added that 3 out of 9 cases of such sabotage and terrorist attacks involved the attempted murder of police officers.

Ukraine and Russia exchange 300 POWs

Meanwhile, Ukraine has brought back 150 troops from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. "Some of these men have been in captivity for over two years," he wrote on X.

Russia confirmed the prisoner exchange and said 150 Russian servicemen had been returned. Both sides said the deal was brokered by the United Arab Emirates, which has acted as an intermediary in many such exchanges.

In an interview broadcast Tuesday, Zelenskiy put the Ukrainian death toll in the nearly three-year war with Russia at 45,100, with 390,000 wounded. He also put the Russian death toll at 350,000, with 600,000 to 700,000 wounded.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse