Russia and Ukraine on Saturday announced that they had exchanged 115 prisoners of war each, just over two weeks after Kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region. The prisoner exchange came on Ukraine's Independence Day, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address, said Russia wanted to "destroy" Ukraine, but the war had "returned to its home". Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Summary:
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Russia and Ukraine on Saturday said they had exchanged 230 prisoners of war, 115 from each country.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed his country's surprise incursion on August 6 into Russian soil in an Independence Day video speech released on Saturday.
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Zelensky on Saturday signed a law banning the Moscow-linked Orthodox Church and its religious organisations.
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The US on Friday announced a new round of military aid for Kyiv after President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Yesterday's key developments:
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Indian leader's first visit to the war-torn country. Modi called for a diplomatic solution to more than two years of war with Russia, saying he stood "firmly for peace".
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The US announced a new round of military aid for Kyiv after President Joe Biden spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Russia accused Ukraine of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station overnight from Thursday to Friday in what it called an act of "nuclear terrorism", days before the head of the UN atomic watchdog is due to visit the site.
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Russia suspended a ferry service operating between southern Russia and annexed Crimea after a Ukrainian attack on a Black Sea port on Thursday, Russia's transport ministry said.
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Ukraine's forces destroyed 14 out of 16 Russian attack drones launched overnight, Ukraine's Air Force said.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
