Ukraine and Russia move to revive prisoner exchanges
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Kyiv and Moscow are working to restart prisoner swaps that could return roughly 1,200 Ukrainian detainees to their homeland.
Writing on X, Zelenskyy said, "We are working to ensure another start to negotiations, so that after all there is a prospect to end this war." He added that Ukrainian authorities are "counting on the resumption of POW exchanges — many meetings, negotiations, and calls are currently taking place to ensure this."
Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said Saturday he took part in consultations mediated by Turkey and the United Arab Emirates aimed at reviving swaps.
Umerov said the parties agreed to reactivate prisoner-exchange accords brokered in Istanbul in 2022 to secure the release of about 1,200 Ukrainians. Moscow had not immediately responded to the announcement.
Those Istanbul protocols were created with Turkish mediation to set procedures for large, coordinated exchanges. Since then, Russia and Ukraine have traded thousands of detainees, although swaps have been intermittent. Umerov said technical consultations would take place soon to finalize procedural and logistical details and expressed hope that returned prisoners could "celebrate the New Year and Christmas holidays at home — at the family table and next to their relatives."
Finland's president says a ceasefire is unlikely soon
Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, warned Sunday that a ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely before spring and urged European partners to sustain support for Kyiv despite a corruption scandal that has shaken the Ukrainian government.
Telling the Associated Press that Europe will need "sisu" — a Finnish term for endurance and resilience — Stubb said the continent must brace for a difficult winter as Russia continues hybrid attacks and information operations across Europe.
"I'm not very optimistic about achieving a ceasefire or the beginning of peace negotiations, at least this year," Stubb said, while suggesting it would be useful to "get something going" by March. He also said he leverages a cordial personal rapport with U.S. President Donald Trump to press Washington on behalf of Ukraine.
Stubb warned that President Vladimir Putin has shown no change in his aim to undermine Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity since the war began nearly four years ago.
Russian strikes continue; energy infrastructure hit
Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that Russian drone strikes overnight into Sunday damaged energy infrastructure in the Odesa region, including a solar power plant.
Combined missile and drone strikes on the power grid have contributed to rolling blackouts as winter approaches. Ukraine said Russia launched a total of 176 drones and one missile overnight, and that Ukrainian forces shot down or neutralized 139 of those drones.
Ukraine's general staff also reported strikes on a major oil refinery in Russia's Samara region and on a warehouse storing drones for the elite Rubicon drone unit in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region; Russian officials did not immediately confirm those reports.
Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian refineries aim to reduce Moscow's oil-export revenues that help finance the war. Russia's defense ministry said its forces shot down 57 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Context
Prisoner exchanges have been one of the few avenues for humanitarian progress during the conflict. Reactivating the Istanbul-brokered protocols could secure the coordinated, large-scale swaps needed to bring many detainees home, but technical, political and security hurdles remain.
