Moscow, Kyiv swap prisoners amid heavy fighting

KYIV/MOSCOW — Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been freed following the latest prisoner swap, officials from both sides confirmed on Saturday, amid heavy fighting in Ukraine's east.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said in a Telegram post that 116 Ukrainians returned home, whereas Russia's state news agency TASS said 63 Russian servicemen were released.

Yermak also said Russia returned the bodies of two British voluntary aid workers to Ukraine, and a volunteer soldier from Ukraine's International Legion.

Russia unleashed a fresh wave of bombardment across the eastern front lines on Saturday morning. Ukrainian officials reported shelling in the Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk and Mykolaiv regions.

Ukraine said it had fought off a fresh attack on the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut on Saturday.

And the southern city of Odessa suffered a massive power cut affecting half a million households after an accident at a damaged electrical substation.

Ukraine's border guard service reported that its soldiers had stopped the latest attack, killing four and wounding seven of the attacking forces.

In an evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation was getting tougher.

Also on Saturday, Zelensky said he discussed the "further expansion of capabilities" of Ukraine's military in a call with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The two leaders agreed on the importance of the international community speeding up assistance for Ukraine, Sunak's office said after the two leaders spoke.

Zelensky also thanked Sunak for the start of training of Ukrainian crews on Challenger 2 tanks, the supply of which to Ukraine the United Kingdom announced last month.

Response warned

Moscow is ready to use all kinds of weapons depending on the nature of the threats, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

"Our response can be anything," Medvedev said in response to a question.

He added that the response would be swift, hard and convincing, in accordance with Russia's doctrinal documents, including the country's state policy on nuclear deterrence.

On the issue of energy supplies, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud warned on Saturday that Western sanctions against Russia could result in a shortage of energy supplies in the future.

In response to a question over how trade measures would affect the energy market, Abdulaziz told an industry conference in Riyadh: "All of those so-called sanctions, embargoes, lack of investments, they will convolute into one thing and one thing only, a lack of energy supplies of all kinds when they are most needed."

Agencies - Xinhua