Ukraine Announces Retaliatory Strikes

Ukraine has completed the first stage of a planned prisoner exchange with Russia, bringing 209 people home, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address published May 15. The group included 205 military personnel and four civilians, most of whom had been held since 2022. Zelenskyy said the exchange was part of an agreed 1,000-for-1,000 format and that further stages were being prepared.

Zelenskyy thanked the United States for helping mediate the agreement and credited Ukrainian military units with supporting efforts to secure the return of prisoners. He also said he had approved response measures following Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and villages. According to the president, Ukrainian forces had already attacked Russian oil facilities and military sites and would continue such operations.

The Ukrainian leader also warned that Russia was seeking to involve Belarus more deeply in the war and could use Belarusian territory to launch operations toward northern Ukraine or neighboring NATO countries. He said Ukraine’s defense and security forces had been instructed to prepare a plan to strengthen the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction.

Zelenskyy made the remarks after visiting the site of a destroyed apartment building in Kyiv. He said 24 people, including three children, were killed in the strike, which Ukrainian authorities attributed to a Russian Kh-101 missile. He called for continued international support for Ukraine and said the country would continue defending its sovereignty.