Russia and Ukraine exchanged 50 prisoners of war, the first swap this year, just hours after Moscow launched a massive attack on Ukrainian energy targets, causing rotating power outages that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said highlighted the need for Western help to strengthen the existing capabilities of Ukraine’s air shield.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on January 15 that as a result of talks mediated by the United Arab Emirates, 25 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv in exchange for 25 Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Zelenskiy confirmed the swap, noting that those returning to Ukrainian control include soldiers who fought at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in one of the most intense battles fought in the early stages of the war.
The exchange came after several regions across Ukraine were rocked by explosions early on January 15, hobbling the country’s power system in the dead of winter.
Power operator Ukrenerho reported emergency outages in several regions, while the head of the Lviv region reported two hits on critical infrastructure.
"It's the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector. Among the targets are gas infrastructure and energy facilities that ensure people's normal lives," Zelenskiy said.
Russian troops also attacked Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin, reported on January 15 as he reiterated a call for residents of the region, especially those with families, to evacuate.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces conducted strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, successfully hitting all designated targets.
The ministry said the strikes were in response to Ukrainian attacks using U.S. ATACMS missiles and British-made Storm Shadow missiles and an attack on Russia's Krasnodar region aimed at halting gas flows through the Turkstream pipeline network.
A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Liski district of the Voronezh region late on January 15. Eyewitnesses posted videos, which have not been verified by RFE/RL, showing flames and smoke rising from the oil depot. There has been no official confirmation from either side.
As crews worked to restore Ukrainian energy facilities, Zelenskiy was in Warsaw to meet with Polish leaders on bilateral relations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after meeting Zelenskiy that his country will use its current position as head of the rotating presidency of the EU to push forward Kyiv's accession to the bloc.
"We will break the standstill we have in this issue.... We will accelerate the accession process,” Tusk told a news conference.
Tusk also accused Russia of planning acts of "air terror" against airlines around the world, saying Moscow seeks sabotage and diversion on Polish soil and beyond.
SEE ALSO: Russian Forces Tried To Stop Removal Of Captured North Korean Soldier From BattlefieldHe did not provide any evidence to back up the claims, saying "I will not go into details, but I can confirm the validity of these fears is that Russia has been planning acts of air terror, and not only against Poland, but against airlines all over the world."
Poland has been a staunch ally of Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost three years ago, but ties have shown signs of strain for decades over the Volhynia massacre of ethnic Poles by Ukrainian nationalists between 1943 and 1945.
Tens of thousands of Poles, and thousands of Ukrainians died in the massacres by the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists under Stepan Bandera.
The Polish parliament has said the events bore elements of genocide.
The two sides have agreed that the exhumation of the victims of the tragedy will begin in April in the Ternopil region and be carried out by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation with experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, specialists from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, and Ukrainian archaeologists.
Warsaw has long sought the exhumation and proper burial of Polish victims and the issue is looming in a May presidential election in which Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian who heads the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), is running as a nationalist candidate.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski is seen as the leading candidate to succeed President Andrzej Duda. He represents the liberal-conservative coalition led by Tusk.
Duda is ineligible for reelection as he was already elected twice.