Overview

• Vladimir Medinsky said Ukraine unexpectedly postponed the exchange of prisoners of war and the handover of bodies indefinitely.
• Both sides agreed in Istanbul on June 2 to swap over 1,000 POWs each and return thousands of fallen soldiers’ remains.
• Russia delivered 1,212 Ukrainian bodies and submitted a list of 640 prisoners under the terms of the first stage of the swap.
• The exchange was slated for June 7–9 but did not proceed after Ukraine failed to show at the designated site.
• A massive aerial barrage on Kharkiv hours before Russia’s announcement killed at least eight civilians in what local officials called the heaviest strike since the full-scale invasion.