12 soldiers, 14 civilians to return to Ukraine in prisoner swap with Russia: official

A Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Ukraine and Russia engaged in their third prison swap.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a post on Telegram that 12 soldiers and 14 civilians, including nine women, would be returning to Ukraine. She did not mention in her post how many people would be returning to Russia.

The development comes amid the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine, now in its second month. Footage shared by Ukrainian officials in recent weeks shows some of the horrors and devastation being witnessed firsthand in Ukraine, including in Bucha and Kramatorsk.

European Commission leaders, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hours after Ukrainian officials accused Russia of striking a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, killing 52 people and injuring more than 100. 

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles visited Ukraine on Friday, they went to Bucha to survey the situation on the ground. 

“Indeed, I started my day today with a visit to Bucha because being in Bucha and seeing what has happened, you can tell that our humanity was shattered in Bucha,” von der Leyen said during a press conference with Zelensky on Friday. 

“And it is right and just that the world has voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council,” von der Leyen added.

Meanwhile, in the United States, President Biden took the country’s latest steps to punish Russia over its invasion of Ukraine by signing legislation on Friday formally ending normal trade relations with Moscow in addition to codifying a ban on Russian energy imports into law.