Ukraine and Russia completed what Kyiv said was the largest exchange of prisoners since Moscow invaded in February, as Russian forces continued their push to encircle Lysychansk in the east and the U.S. outlined its biggest military expansion in Europe since the Cold War.
Ukraine’s military intelligence on Wednesday said 144 Ukrainian soldiers were freed, including 95 soldiers who had defended the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. The last group of fighters that held out against a Russian siege at the industrial complex had surrendered in May, handing Moscow more than 2,000 Ukrainian captives from the steelworks. The fate of the fighters has been unclear ever since.
