Ukraine strongly refuted Russian claims on Saturday that it had indefinitely delayed planned prisoner of war exchanges. Kyiv accused Moscow of engaging in "playing dirty games," as tensions escalated following deadly overnight Russian missile and bomb attacks on Kharkiv, which killed three people and injured 22.

The northeastern city of Kharkiv endured what its Mayor, Ihor Terekhov, termed "the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war." According to Terekhov, the Russian strikes targeted residential buildings, educational facilities, and essential infrastructure. Photos from the scene depicted burnt and partially demolished buildings, with rescuers evacuating the wounded. Oleh Syniehubov, the Kharkiv regional Governor, stated that a civilian industrial facility was struck by approximately 40 drones and several bombs, leading to concerns that individuals might still be trapped beneath the debris. Kharkiv, situated only a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border, has been subjected to frequent Russian shelling throughout the more than three years of conflict triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion.

In a separate development, Russian officials reported that a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region resulted in injuries to two people. Andrei Vorobyov, the regional Governor, announced that nine drones were successfully intercepted and shot down. The drone activity prompted a temporary suspension of flight operations at Moscow's Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports for safety reasons, although services were later reinstated. Russia's Defence Ministry further claimed that its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed a total of 36 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory since midnight.

Amidst these events, Russia's Defence Ministry asserted that its forces had employed high-precision long-range weaponry and drones to attack military targets in Ukraine, claiming all designated targets were hit. These military actions coincided with the escalating dispute over prisoner exchanges.

The controversy surrounding the prisoner swaps emerged after a second round of peace negotiations in Istanbul on Monday. During these talks, both Ukrainian and Russian delegations had reportedly agreed to conduct further prisoner exchanges and to repatriate the bodies of an estimated 12,000 deceased soldiers. However, Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the Kremlin, declared on Saturday that Kyiv had unexpectedly postponed these agreed-upon exchanges indefinitely.

Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, unequivocally denied Medinsky's allegations. "Today's statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies," Kovalenko stated via the Telegram messaging app. He called on Moscow to "stop 'playing dirty games' and return to constructive work."

Further military incidents were also reported. Ukraine's air forces announced on Saturday morning the downing of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet, though specific details were not provided, and Russian authorities had not yet commented on the incident. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim. Separately, a senior German military official, in a YouTube podcast, suggested that a Ukrainian drone attack deep within Russian territory the previous weekend had likely inflicted damage on approximately 10% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet, with some aircraft reportedly hit as they were being prepared for strikes against Ukraine.