Ukraine and Russia announced a prisoner exchange on February 16, with each side reporting that 101 prisoners were to be returned. The announcement followed overnight strikes by Russia’s military across Ukraine that triggered air alerts and the country’s air-defense system, Ukrainian officials reported.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the exchange involved 100 Ukrainian soldiers and one civilian.
Live Briefing: Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
RFE/RL’s Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia’s ongoing invasion, Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL’s coverage of the war, click here.
Among the released fighters are defenders of Mariupol, Yermak said on Telegram, adding that many had suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine had returned 101 prisoners of war following talks. The Russian military would fly the released prisoners to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, one of Russia’s strikes early on February 16 killed a 79-year-old woman and injured at least seven other people, Ukrainian authorities reported.
A missile also struck Ukraine’s largest oil refinery. The extent of the damage was unclear.
Russian forces used a variety of missile types, firing 36 in a two-hour period, armed forces commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said, adding Ukrainian air-defense batteries had shot down 16 of them.
Writing on Telegram earlier, Yermak said unspecified sites in the north and west of Ukraine had been hit, as well as the central regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad. Yermak said Russian forces “changed their tactics” for the strike, deploying what he described as “active reconnaissance” and “false targets.”
In western Ukraine, Maksym Kozytskiy, head of the Lviv regional military administration, said “a critical infrastructure facility” had been hit in the region in the overnight Russian attack.
The fresh attacks come amid reports of intensifying fighting in the country’s east. Russian artillery, drones, and missiles have relentlessly pounded Ukrainian-held areas in the country’s east for months, indiscriminately hitting civilian targets and wreaking destruction
In its daily briefing on February 16, the military’s General Staff said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks on 15 settlements in the east.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together comprise the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia, have suffered severely from Russia’s bombardments as Moscow reportedly moves more troops into the area.
Six civilians were killed and 13 wounded in Russian shelling in the Donetsk region on February 15, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a post on Telegram on February 16.
WATCH: Having made the most of Soviet-era T-72 tanks up to now, Ukrainian forces are keen to take newly acquired Leopard 2 tanks into battle against Russian invaders.
On February 15, Russian invading forces claimed some battlefield success, saying its troops broke through two Ukrainian defensive lines in the eastern Luhansk region and pushed back Ukrainian troops some 3 kilometers.
It was not possible to independently verify Moscow’s claim.
Some of the worst fighting has been taking place near the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces continue to repel attacks, officials have said. Russian forces have fought to capture Bakhmut to gain a new foothold in the Donetsk region.
Serhiy Cherevatiy, spokesman for the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said due to heavy losses Russian forces fighting near Bakhmut are rotated constantly. There would otherwise be no way to maintain such a high intensity of fighting, he said on Ukrainian television.
He also said there are signs that Russian troops are experiencing a shortage of ammunition. Shells are being transported from more distant regions of Russia and come under fire from Ukraine while in transit, he said.
Meanwhile, the White House announced that President Joe Biden will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on March 3 for talks on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The leaders will discuss our ongoing efforts to support Ukraine, impose costs on Russia for its aggression, and strengthen transatlantic security,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
A senior U.S. State Department official said on February 16 that the United States and its allies are planning a major array of new sanctions against Russia for the February 24 anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine.
“You will see around the 24th a big new package of sanctions from both the U.S. and all of our G7 partners,” Victoria Nuland told reporters.
The sanctions will “deepen and broaden” categories that have been hit before, particularly technology used by the Russian defense industry, she said.
The package will also target individuals, expand banking restrictions, and crack down on sanctions evasion.
