Ukraine-Russia war latest: New prisoner swap agreed in Istanbul includes return of ‘heroes of Mariupol’

North Korea may send more troops to Russia to fight against Ukraine this summer, South Korean lawmakers have claimed citing the country’s intelligence agency.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes Russia may be readying to mount a large-scale assault against Ukraine in July or August, South Korean member of parliament Lee Seong-kweun told reporters.

This assessment is based on new round-up of troops by the North Korean military, and the visit of a top Russian presidential security official.

Pyongyang is likely to receive technical advice on satellite launches and missile guidance systems in return, the briefing said according to Mr Lee.

Russia and North Korea have said their cooperation is based on a treaty signed by Vladimir Putin and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, which includes a mutual defence pact.

Russia and Ukraine completed another round of prisoner exchanges, officials in both countries said yesterday, part of an agreement struck in Istanbul recently between the two sides.

Both sides exchanged the same number of prisoners, but there was no word on how many soldiers were involved, Russian state RIA news agency said.

Ukraine’s coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war said majority of the prsioners had been captive and in Russian custody for more than three years.

The swap included injured soldiers and those with health complaints. The youngest is 24 and the oldest is 62, it said, adding that more exchanges are expected soon.

Many of them were taken prisoner in the Ukrainian city Mariupol, which fell to Russian forces after a lengthy siege in 2022.

The Kremlin has said there was no progress yet towards setting a date for the next round of peace talks with Ukraine, Interfax news agency reported yesterday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in favour of continued US mediation effort, another news agency, Tass, reported.

Resuming negotiations after a gap of more than three years, Russia and Ukraine held face-to-face talks in Istanbul on 16 May and 2 June that led to a series of prisoner exchanges and the return of the bodies of dead soldiers.

But they have made no progress towards a ceasefire which Ukraine, with Western backing, has been pressing for.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Donald Trump told him he would attend potential peace talks between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Turkey.

But it all depends on if Russian president Vladimir Putin also agreed to take part, Mr Erdogan said.

On his return flight from a Nato summit at The Hague, where he met Mr Trump for the first time since the latter returned to office, Mr Erdogan said he told the US president Ankara aims to bring the Russian and Ukrainian leaders together in Turkey for peace talks.

“He (Trump) said, ‘if Russian president Vladimir Putin comes to Istanbul or Ankara for a solution, then I will also come,” Mr Erdogan told reporters, according to his office.

“We will hold the necessary contacts and God willing realise this meeting as soon as possible.”

“They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,” the US president said. “And we’re going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We’re supplying them to Israel, and they’re very effective, 100 per cent effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.”

Here, The Independent takes a look at what weapons the US and other countries have been sending to Ukraine and Russia as the war show no signs of ending soon.

Ukrainian forces have halted Russia’s recent advance into the northern Sumy region and have stabilised the front line near the border with Russia, Ukraine’s top military commander said yesterday.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops, including elite airborne and marine brigades, to other areas of the frontline.

Sumy, the city which is the capital of the Ukrainian region of the same name, had a prewar population of around 250,000. It lies about 20km (12 miles) from the frontline.

Russia’s push into the region earlier this year compelled Ukraine to strengthen its defences there.

A special defence group has been formed to improve security in Sumy and surrounding communities, General Syrskyi said, with a focus on improving fortifications and accelerating construction of defensive barriers.