Despite a recent large-scale aerial assault by Moscow, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of prisoners on Sunday, marking a rare instance of cooperation in their three-year conflict.

The exchange concluded a three-part operation and represented a significant prisoner swap.

Sources indicated that over 300 soldiers were exchanged by each side. This followed the release of 307 fighters and civilians per side on Saturday, and 390 on Friday, which was the largest exchange of the war to date.

“303 Ukrainian defenders are home,” a statement confirmed on X.

The returning Ukrainian troops included members of the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and State Special Transport Service.

Earlier talks in Istanbul resulted in an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees from each side. This exchange is the only concrete result from those discussions.

The prisoner swap occurred hours after a major Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions that resulted in at least 12 deaths, including three children, and numerous injuries.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that air defenses were active against enemy drones in the capital. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv military administration, reported drone attacks on Kharkiv and its surrounding areas.

According to Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched a total of 69 missiles and 298 drones, constituting the largest single aerial attack of the war.

Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that its air defenses intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The escalation in violence followed President Donald Trump’s expression of dissatisfaction with Russia’s large-scale strike against Ukraine on Saturday.

Speaking in New Jersey, Trump accused Putin of “killing a lot of people” in the attack.

“I’m not happy with what Putin is doing,” Trump said. “He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin.”

In a later Truth Social post, Trump claimed Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY!”

“I’ve always said that [Putin] wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” the social media post read. Trump also criticized Zelenskyy.

“Likewise, President Zelenskyy is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote, concluding: “This is a War that would never have started if I were President. This is Zelenskyy’s, Putin’s, and Biden’s War, not ‘Trump’s,’ I am only helping to put out the big and ugly fires, that have been started through Gross Incompetence and Hatred.”

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