Russia and Ukraine exchange hundreds of prisoners of war in biggest release so far

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Russia describes Ukrainians as “terrorists” who indiscriminately target residential areas while insisting Moscow only aims at depots, arms factories and other military facilities — even though there is ample evidence that Russia is hitting Ukrainian civilian targets.

Ukrainian officials rarely acknowledge responsibility for strikes on Russian territory.

In another Russian border region on Wednesday, the city of Zeleznogorsk was briefly cut off from the power grid after Ukrainian shelling, local officials said.

Authorities were forced to temporarily shut down an electricity substation in the city of 100,000 people in the Kursk region to repair the damage from an aerial attack, Kursk Gov. Roman Starovoit said on Telegram.

Residents were without power or heat, he said, although electricity was restored in most of the city about two hours later, he said.

Russia has recently intensified its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, including using Kinzhal missiles which can fly at 10 times the speed of sound. The Kremlin’s forces appear to be targeting Ukraine’s defense industry, the U.K. Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

The onslaught has prompted Kyiv officials to ask its Western allies to provide further air defense support.

NATO announced Wednesday that it would help member nations buy up to 1,000 surface-to-air Patriot guided missiles in a deal possibly costing about $5.5 billion. That could allow alliance members to send more of their own defense systems to Ukraine."