In a significant development amid the ongoing conflict, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged a total of 372 prisoners of war (POWs), the Russian Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would speak with Trump after American leader’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a ceasefire and discuss the next steps.
“Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with … Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities,” Zelenskyy said.
Earlier, Russia announced that it had halted its attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities but accused Kyiv of targeting equipment near one of its pipelines.
“Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The development followed Russian strikes on civilian areas, which came after President Putin refused to support a full 30-day ceasefire during discussions with Trump.
The White House described the Trump-Putin call as the first step in a “movement to peace” that Washington hopes will lead to a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and, ultimately, a lasting end to the war.
However, there was no indication that Putin had softened his stance on a prospective peace deal—conditions that Kyiv has fiercely opposed.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) warned that Putin’s demands during the call amounted to “Ukrainian capitulation.”
“Putin is attempting to hold the temporary ceasefire proposal hostage in order to extract preemptive concessions ahead of formal negotiations to end the war,” the ISW said in an analysis of the discussion.
Shortly after the lengthy Trump-Putin call on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded across Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents scrambled for shelter.
Despite Ukrainian air defenses, Russian strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including two hospitals, a railway, and more than 20 houses, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russian drones were also reported over the regions of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy.
The Russian defense ministry claimed its military had complied with Putin’s order to halt strikes on energy infrastructure but admitted that prior to the order, its forces had targeted power facilities linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in the Mykolaiv region.
Moscow also accused Ukraine of attacking an energy facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region, bordering Crimea. The ministry stated that three drones struck oil transfer equipment at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, causing a fire and leading one oil tank to lose pressure.
“It is absolutely clear that we are talking about yet another provocation deliberately concocted by the Kyiv regime, aimed at derailing the peace initiatives of the US president,” the Russian defense ministry said.
Additionally, Russia claimed its air defenses intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions, including the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk, as well as Oryol and Tula.
Zelenskyy dismissed Russia’s claims of seeking peace, insisting that “words of a ceasefire” were not enough.
“If the Russians don’t hit our facilities, we definitely won’t hit theirs,” he said.
The Ukrainian president also rejected Putin’s key demand that Western allies cease military aid and intelligence support, arguing that such a move would endanger Ukrainian citizens.
“I don’t think anybody should make any concessions in terms of helping Ukraine, but rather, assistance to Ukraine should be increased,” Zelenskyy said. “This will be a signal that Ukraine is ready for any surprises from the Russians.”