Russian aerial attacks kill 2 in Ukraine as Easter prisoner exchange planned

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian aerial attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine killed two people and injured at least three others, officials said Thursday, as the warring countries work on a prisoner exchange for Easter.

Periodic prisoner exchanges have been one of the few positive outcomes of otherwise fruitless monthslong U.S.-brokered negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. The talks have delivered no progress on key issues preventing an end to Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, now in its fifth year.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered a ceasefire for the Easter period, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Moscow wants a lasting peace settlement, not a temporary truce.

President Vladimir Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.

Russia’s human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said Thursday that both sides are working on exchanges of prisoners. “Ahead of Easter, a lot of work is being done today to prepare prisoner exchanges,” Moskalkova told reporters.

Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said last week he hoped for a “major exchange” of prisoners this Easter. Orthodox Easter falls on April 12.

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A Russian strike on Synelnykove, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killed one person and injured a woman and a 12-year-old boy, according to regional military administration chief Oleksandr Hazha.

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A strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, started a fire in an apartment block and injured a 61-year-old woman, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said.

A ballistic missile strike on the northern city of Chernihiv killed one person and injured a 17-year-old girl, the head of the city’s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynskyi reported.

Another attack targeted the Odesa region, authorities said, as Russia fired 172 strike drones at Ukraine. Air defense systems shot down 147 of them, according to Ukraine’s air force.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine