KYIV: Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelensky said that Moscow has amassed about 53,000 troops in the direction of Sumy.
“We are leveling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km from the border,” Zelensky said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia conducted another POW swap — the fourth one in a week — the warring sides said on Saturday, under agreements reached in Istanbul earlier this month.
“We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week,” President Zelensky wrote on social media.
“In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements ... another group of Russian servicemen was returned from the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Kyiv also said it had received another batch of 1,200 unidentified bodies from Russia, which it said Russia claimed “belong to Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel,” as part of the Istanbul agreements as well.
Ukraine did not say whether it returned any bodies to Russia.
Some were injured, others disembarked from buses and hugged those welcoming them, or were seen calling someone by phone, sometimes covering their faces or smiling.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry released its own video showing men in uniforms holding Russian flags, clapping and chanting “Russia, Russia,” “glory to Russia” and “hooray,” some raising their fists in the air.
