Russian missiles and drones launched early on February 16 left several civilians dead, Ukrainian officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to filmmakers and artists attending the opening of the Berlin film festival to declare their support for Ukraine and stand up against evil.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
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.
The overnight barrage triggered air alerts across the country. One of the strikes killed a 79-year-old woman and injured at least seven other people, Ukrainian authorities said. A missile also struck Ukraine's largest oil refinery. The extent of the damage was unclear.
Russian Grad rockets and barrel artillery slammed into a residential district in Bakhmut, killing three men and two women there. The Prosecutor-General's Office said the attack was being investigated as a war crime.
Russian forces used a variety of missile types, firing 36 in a two-hour period, armed forces commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said, adding Ukrainian air-defense batteries had shot down 16 of them.
Later on February 16, Zelenskiy addressed the opening of the Berlinale, as the city's annual film festival is known, urging filmmakers to take sides in what he termed a battle between freedom and tyranny.
Speaking on a live video stream, Zelenskiy recalled his own experience as an actor, urging colleagues to directly address their audiences.
"For many years, Potsdam Square was divided by the Berlin Wall," he said. "Today, Russia wants to build the same wall in Ukraine: a wall between us and Europe, to separate Ukraine from its own choice for its future."
Zelenskiy said earlier in an interview with the BBC that he hoped that Belarus will not enter the war against Ukraine. In response to a comment by Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka earlier, Zelenskiy said Ukraine would "fight and survive" if Belarus did enter the war.
Lukashenka said Belarus would only fight alongside Russia if it was attacked. He has repeatedly denied suggestions from Kyiv that it could join in the conflict.
Ukraine and Russia announced a prisoner swap earlier on February 16.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's presidential office, said on Telegram that 100 Ukrainian soldiers and one civilian were to return to Ukraine in the exchange. Among the released fighters are defenders of Mariupol, Yermak said, adding that many had suffered wounds of varying degrees of severity.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Ukraine had released the same number of prisoners of war. The Russian military was to fly them to Moscow for treatment and rehabilitation in medical institutions, the ministry said.
The developments came amid reports of intensifying fighting in the country's east. Russian artillery, drones, and missiles have relentlessly pounded Ukrainian-held areas in the country's east for months, indiscriminately hitting civilian targets and wreaking destruction
In its daily briefing on February 16, the military's General Staff said Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks on 15 settlements in the east.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together comprise the industrial Donbas region bordering Russia, have suffered severely from Russia's bombardments as Moscow reportedly moves more troops into the area.
WATCH: Having made the most of Soviet-era T-72 tanks up to now, Ukrainian forces are keen to take newly acquired Leopard 2 tanks into battle against Russian invaders.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Ukrainian Crews Get Up To Speed On Leopard Tanks
Meanwhile, world leaders began gathering for the Munich Security Conference. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived and was expected to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European heads of state. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also scheduled to attend the conference.
Speaking on the eve of the conference's opening day, Russian Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky said peace in Ukraine is unlikely as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power.
"As long as Putin's regime is in power, the war will not end," Khodorkovsky said, discussing ideas covered in his new book How Do You Slay A Dragon?
He said the war in Ukraine has caused deep divisions within Russia, including rifts within families, while active support for the war or the will to enlist in the Russian military is low.