Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow's largest airport, on Friday asked passengers to take shelter and evacuate certain areas due to a threat from Ukrainian drones, according to what Reuters reported.
Earlier today, the Russian Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) reported that three airports in Moscow had suspended air traffic, a measure it takes when it detects Ukrainian drone activity.
The governor of the Russian Perm region, Dmitry Makhonin, said on Friday that an industrial facility in the region was slightly damaged as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack.
In a post on the Telegram application, he said that emergency teams were at the site and that there were no casualties, but he did not provide details about the facility or the nature of the damage.
On Friday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 270 prisoners each in the latest exchange of prisoners of war after talks that took place with American negotiators a few days ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the “X” platform that nine civilians were among those returned by Kiev to Russia. He added that most of the captured soldiers have been protesting since 2022, that is, when Russia launched its comprehensive invasion of his country. He added: “We remember everyone and will continue to search for them.”
Among the returnees were five Ukrainian prisoners who officials believed were killed in an explosion that occurred inside a detention center in Olenivka, located in eastern Ukraine currently under Russian control.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram that the released Russian soldiers are in Belarus, and will head to Russia as soon as they receive psychological and medical support.
In Washington, US First Lady Melania Trump made a surprise announcement on Friday that she had succeeded in securing a local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the stricken city of Oleshki, where residents are still stranded and suffering from food shortages.
She said, in a statement to the White House: “Olishki is a city on the front line, and it is on the verge of disaster,” adding: “It was absolutely clear that without my intervention, it would have been impossible to bring humanitarian aid into the city or evacuate the elderly from it.”
The ceasefire is scheduled to enter into force on October 29. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has confirmed this announcement yet.
Residents are facing an increasing shortage of food and medicine, according to what displaced people from the city told Agence France-Presse early this month.
Both Ukraine and Russia acknowledge the existence of a humanitarian crisis in the region, but they exchange accusations about responsibility for this situation, with each party accusing the other of obstructing the delivery of food supplies and carrying out evacuations.
The White House explained that “Melania Trump and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to determine the terms of a local ceasefire.”
The statement added: “Within her official role as exclusive mediator, the First Lady held discussions with the two countries, which enabled the two parties to agree on the objectives, technical arrangements, timeline, procedures, and terms of this agreement.”
Russian forces took control of the city of Oleshki, located in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, in 2022 at the beginning of the invasion.
The city suffered severe damage from the destruction of the Kakovka Dam in 2023, causing devastating floods along the Dnieper River. Moscow and Kiev exchange accusations of responsibility for what happened. The city's population has decreased from about 24,000 people to about 2,000 people now.
