Ukraine war latest: Ukraine brings home 300 POWs, 2 civilians in 2nd stage of major prisoner swap
Key developments on March 6:
- Ukraine secures release of 300 POWs, 2 civilians in second stage of exchange with Russia
- 'Russians preparing spring offensive' — Zelensky visits Donetsk Oblast, meets commanders amid risk of new Russian push
- Ukrainian drones successfully hit Russian aircraft repair plant in occupied Crimea, SBU says
- Ukraine's HUR releases video of strikes on Russian military assets in occupied Crimea
Ukraine has secured the release of 300 prisoners of war and two civilian detainees from Russian captivity as part of the second stage of a previously agreed exchange, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on March 6.
The latest release brings the total number of Ukrainians freed over the past two days to 500, according to Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.
Those released include members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including Territorial Defense units, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. All freed service members are enlisted ranks — sailors, soldiers, and sergeants.
Some of the released defenders had been held in captivity since 2022. The youngest freed service members is 26, captured at 22 in 2022, while the oldest is 60.
According to Zelensky, the service members fought on the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson fronts, as well as in Mariupol. Most had been held for more than a year.
"Three hundred of our defenders are returning home. Separately, we managed to free two civilian citizens," Zelensky said, thanking Ukrainian forces and negotiators who helped facilitate the exchange.
He also expressed gratitude to the U.S. for mediation, saying it was important that "the agreements worked."
Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov described the release as the second stage of an exchange agreed upon during negotiations in Geneva.
Lubinets said representatives of the Ombudsman's Office have been present at the exchange site for two days, meeting the released prisoners, helping them contact relatives, and monitoring compliance with the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Ludinets added that since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, 6,922 Ukrainians have been brought back from captivity.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange, saying 300 Russian servicemen had been returned from Ukrainian captivity in exchange for 300 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to the ministry, the Russian soldiers are currently in Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical assistance before being transferred to Russia for further treatment and rehabilitation.
'Russians preparing spring offensive' — Zelensky visits Donetsk Oblast, meets commanders amid risk of new Russian push
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Donetsk Oblast on March 6, meeting Ukrainian brigades defending key eastern cities as Kyiv warns Russia may be preparing a new offensive this spring.
"The Russians are not abandoning the war, and here, in Donetsk Oblast, they are preparing an offensive for the spring," Zelensky said on X.
Donetsk Oblast remains one of the war's most active front-line regions, as Russian forces continue pressing Ukrainian defensive positions around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad — two key logistics hubs west of Russian-occupied Donetsk.
During the visit, Zelensky met with brigades and commanders responsible for the situation in the Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Sloviansk sectors of the front line, including units of the 11th and 19th Army Corps, as well as service members from the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, the 100th Separate Mechanized Brigade, and the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
Zelensky held a security meeting with government officials and senior military commanders, including Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, at the command post of the 81st Separate Airmobile Brigade.
"It is important that our positions are strong. It is important that our brigades are adequately supplied," the president said.
"Our warriors are holding their ground with dignity. And this is how our country, our diplomacy, and our people will hold strong as well."
Russian troops have been attempting to advance toward the city of Kostiantynivka and the village of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka in an effort to destabilize Ukraine's defensive belt in the area.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces have made localized gains in the Oleksandrivka sector at the junction of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.
"Evil must be stopped. Ukrainians here, in Donbas, are doing exactly that," Zelensky said. "The stronger we are here, the stronger we are in the negotiation process."
Ukrainian drones successfully hit Russian aircraft repair plant in occupied Crimea, SBU source says
Ukrainian drones struck an aircraft repair plant and two Russian Pantsir-S2 air defense systems overnight in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent on March 6.
The long-range drones hit the production workshops of the Yevpatoria Aircraft Repair Plant, located in western Crimea, as well as two Pantsir-S2 systems near a Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi, which sits in the peninsula's northeast, according to the SBU source.
The SBU source added that other Russian military equipment and sites were struck by the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, including two fuel tankers, an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a truck, and a ground control station for drones.
"The SBU's systematic special operations in Crimea are aimed at destroying the military infrastructure that Russia uses to attack Ukraine," the SBU source told the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense shot down 56 Ukrainian drones over Crimea overnight, but has not commented on the damages reported by the SBU source.
The reported Ukrainian drone strikes come as Ukraine regularly launches attacks on Russian military sites and infrastructure supporting the Russian army both inside Russia and in occupied territories, in efforts to grind down the Russian war machine from afar.
Ukraine's HUR releases video of strikes on Russian military assets in occupied Crimea
Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on March 6 that its forces carried out a series of strikes against Russian military targets in occupied Crimea throughout February.
According to a video released by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), the strikes targeted naval vessels, air defense systems, and aviation assets on the peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 and has since used as a key military hub for operations against Ukraine.
Among the reported targets were a Project 22460 patrol ship, "Hunter", a radar station belonging to an S-400 surface-to-air missile system, a Forpost unmanned aerial vehicle, a Project 1496M1 marine tug, a Project 16640 vessel, a 02510 BK-16 landing craft, and a Ka-27 helicopter.
HUR did not specify the extent of the damage or the exact timing of the strikes. The claims could not be independently verified.
Crimea plays a central role in Russia's war effort, serving as a launch site for missile and drone attacks against mainland Ukraine and as a logistics hub for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted Russian military infrastructure on the peninsula, aiming to degrade Moscow's air defenses, naval capabilities, and supply routes.
The latest update follows the Ukrainian assault on Crimean targets reported on Feb. 21, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck two Russian Project 22460 patrol ships and two Be-12 amphibious aircraft near Sevastopol and at an aviation repair plant, according to the General Staff.
