Ukraine announces Russia has returned the bodies of 77 soldiers, days after the crash of a Russian military transport plane, questions arose about the future of such exchanges. Moscow and Kiev exchanged fresh accusations over a plane Russia said was shot down by Ukrainian forces in the Belgorod border region, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners. Kiev has not completely denied the claims, but officials appear to question whether prisoners of war were involved.
Russian state media said the military plane's black box was taken to a special laboratory in Moscow for analysis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused the Russian government of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners of war” and called for full clarity about the crash.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovic has lost his appeal against his arrest, Russia's state news agency reports. The journalist will spend at least a year in prison in Russia after a Moscow court extended his pre-trial detention until the end of March.
former NATO Secretary-General George Robertson told Sky News that Ukrainians were “fighting for us” and “we need to do more”. He said that if Russia were to defeat Ukraine, Putin would be “emboldened by the success in Ukraine,” putting “the rest of us” at risk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's top advisor said that Ukraine has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to take part in peace talks. Switzerland has agreed to host the summit, which will be attended by many world leaders, but the venue and date have not yet been decided.
The fate of the politically explosive issue of US military aid to Ukraine and illegal immigration to the US remained up in the air. On Friday, President Joe Biden blamed congressional Republicans for delaying the deal. Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the deal being considered by the Senate could be “dead on arrival” in the chamber.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday the creation of a second agency to support wartime enterprises. After several entrepreneurs voiced their anger over the arrest of a prominent banker. The meeting followed last week's meeting with business leaders following the arrest of banker Ihor Mazepa, which Zelenskiy admitted was “difficult”.
