Ukrainian explosives experts and police officers examine parts of a Shahed drone following an attack in Kharkiv on June 4, 2025.

Russia fired a record 479 drones at Ukraine in an overnight aerial barrage, Kyiv’s air force said on Monday, the latest massive attack as Moscow rejects calls for a ceasefire.

Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the 3-year war, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, as the Kremlin presses its summer offensive against the backdrop of direct peace talks.

As well as drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine.

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Ukraine’s air force said its air defences destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight on Sunday night, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. Officials said one person was injured.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

A recent escalation in aerial attacks has coincided with a renewed Russian battlefield push on eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Sunday that in some of those areas “the situation is very difficult”. He provided no details.

Russia’s aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, because drones are harder to spot in the dark.

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Ukraine has developed long-range drones that continue to strike deep inside Russia.

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Russia and Ukraine are holding another major prisoner exchange, agreed at talks in Istanbul.

Ukraine and Russia on Monday swapped captured soldiers as part of an exchange that will continue “over the coming days”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The prisoner swap was the only tangible agreement to come from peace talks between the two countries in early June.

Russia and Ukraine on Monday swapped a first group of captured soldiers – part of an agreement reached during peace talks that appeared to be in doubt over the weekend.

The deal to exchange prisoners of war and repatriate the bodies of killed fighters was the only concrete agreement reached at the talks, which have failed to lead to a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war.

Progress has stalled. Russia has issued tough conditions for halting its invasion and has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

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“Today an exchange began, which will continue in several stages over the coming days,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

He posted images of soldiers draped in Ukrainian flags, cheering and hugging.

“Among those we are bringing back now are the wounded, the severely wounded, and those under the age of 25,” he added.

Russia’s defence ministry also confirmed the swap was part of “agreements reached on 2 June in Istanbul”.

Neither side said how many prisoners were released.

But they appear as far apart as ever from an agreement.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:

Russia fires record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight, Kyiv says

Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of seeking to delay prisoner swap

Large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine continue despite the Kremlin showing interest in pursuing peace talks.

Russia has launched 479 drones against Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the three-year war, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The air force said early on Monday that it had downed 460 drones as well as 19 missiles launched overnight.

Russia’s continued to step up its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, despite declaring, under pressure from United States President Donald Trump, that it is interested in pursuing peace talks. The record launch came just ahead of the start of a prisoner swap agreed at recent talks between the pair.

Of the hundreds of projectiles fired at numerous targets, only 10 reached their destination, Kyiv officials said. One person was reported injured.

Russia’s escalation of aerial attacks has been matched by a renewed battlefield push in the eastern and northeastern parts of the roughly 1,000km (621-mile) front line in occupied parts of Ukraine.

The onslaught follows a secretive Ukrainian drone attack that damaged several Russian bombers parked at airbases deep inside the country in what was an embarrassment for the Kremlin and, according to Kyiv, a palpable hit on its ability to strike across the border with missiles.

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Russia’s Ministry of Defence said one target of Kyiv’s strike was the Dubno airbase in Ukraine’s Rivne region, which hosts tactical aviation aircraft.

The mayor of the western city of Rivne, Oleksandr Tretyak, said the overnight drone launch was “the largest attack” on his region since the start of the war.

Prisoner swap

Late on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy conceded that in some areas targeted by the Russian offensive, “the situation is very difficult”. However, he provided no details.

Ukraine is shorthanded on the front line against its bigger enemy and needs further military support from its Western partners, especially air defences. However, uncertainty about the US policy has led to doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on.

Two recent rounds of direct peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul have yielded no breakthroughs beyond pledges to swap thousands of prisoners, including dead and seriously wounded soldiers.

Since the agreement, believed to concern an exchange of around 1,200 prisoners by each, was struck last week, the pair has accused one another of failing to meet their obligations.

However, the first batch of POWs was repatriated on Monday afternoon.

“Today’s exchange has begun. It will be done in several stages in the coming days,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app. “Among those we are bringing back now are the wounded, the severely wounded, and those under the age of 25,” he added.

The Russian defence ministry also said the first exchange had been carried out. It did not say how many prisoners had been swapped, but did note that the numbers on each side matched.

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The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces shot down 49 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian regions.

Two drones hit a plant specialising in electronic warfare equipment in the Chuvashia region, located more than 600km (373 miles) east of Moscow, officials reported.

Since the beginning of the war in 2022, Russia has targeted both military and civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. However, Russia claims it attacks only military targets.

Alexander Gusev, head of Russia’s Voronezh region, said 25 drones had been shot down there overnight, damaging a gas pipeline and sparking a small fire.

The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces also claimed that its special operations troops struck two Russian jets stationed at the Savasleyka airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, located some 650km (404 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The statement did not say how the planes were struck.

Russia has escalated its attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, which Kyiv says demonstrate that the Kremlin has no intention of stopping its more than three-year invasion and is not serious about peace talks.

Moscow said Monday its strikes are continued retaliation for a bold Ukrainian attack on its bomber planes parked deep inside Russia, including in Siberia, that infuriated the Kremlin.

The overnight Russian attacks caused damage in several Ukrainian regions. There were no reports of people killed or mass casualties.

“Enemy air strikes were recorded in 10 spots,” the Ukrainian air force said.

The mayor of the western city of Rivne, Oleksandr Tretyak, called it “the largest attack” on the region since the start of the war.

Regional governor Oleksandr Koval said 70 buildings — including private houses and a nursery — were damaged in the attack.

Russia said it had targeted an airfield near the village of Dubno in the Rivne region.

“This is one of the retaliatory strikes against terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime on Russian military airfields,” its defence ministry said.

Russia had vowed revenge last week and had already called strikes on Kyiv retaliation to the brazen Ukrainian operation.

Ukraine also said it had launched its own overnight strike on an electronics factory that makes part for Russian drones, in the city of Cheboskary in Chuvashia — some 600 kilometres (372 miles) east of Moscow.

Russian officials said the facility had to temporarily suspend production after the attack.

“This morning, Ukrainian attempts to use drones in Chuvashia were detected,” Chuvashia Governor Oleg Nikolayev said on Telegram, adding: “Two drones fell on the territory of the VNIIR factory.”

Ukraine’s army said the factory manufactured “antennas for Shahed” (drones). Russia fires dozens of Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones at Ukrainian cities on a daily basis.

Russia said a Ukrainian strike killed one person in its border Kursk region Monday.

The acting governor of the region, Alexander Khinstein, said the strike hit a “cultural-service centre” in the Rylsky district, killing a 64-year-old man.

In an unprecedented aerial assault, Russia launched a record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to Kyiv’s air force, marking one of the most intense attacks since the full-scale invasion began over three years ago.

The overnight bombardment, which also included 20 missiles, triggered air raid sirens and strikes in at least 10 locations across the country. Ukrainian officials reported structural damage in several regions but said there were no confirmed fatalities or mass casualties.

Despite the scale of the offensive, Ukrainian air defenses demonstrated remarkable resilience, intercepting 460 of the drones and 19 missiles, the air force reported on Monday.

The western city of Rivne bore the brunt of the onslaught, with Mayor Oleksandr Tretyak describing it as “the largest attack on the region since the beginning of the war.”

The escalation comes as the Kremlin continues to reject international calls for a ceasefire, casting further doubt on its commitment to peace negotiations.

Ukrainian officials say the spike in attacks is part of a broader strategy to overwhelm air defense systems and exhaust vital infrastructure ahead of renewed fighting in the summer.

Ukraine also retaliated overnight, reportedly striking an electronics factory in Russia that supplies components for drones. Russian local authorities confirmed the facility was forced to temporarily halt operations due to the damage.

The surge in attacks has reignited concerns among Kyiv’s Western allies about the sustainability of Ukraine’s air defenses, which are increasingly strained by the frequency and intensity of Russian strikes.