#prisoner-exchange

#prisoner-exchange

Moscow's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Axios on Tuesday that discussions with U.S. officials had taken place during his late-October visit to Washington, calling the talks humanitarian in nature, such as possible exchanges of prisoners that the U.S. side has been working on. A senior U.S. official confirmed the outreach and described the atmosphere as constructive, though any outcome remains distant.

The Ukrainian military said it struck Russia's Ryazan oil refinery, located about 200km (125 miles) southeast of Moscow, as part of efforts to reduce the enemy's ability to launch missile and bomb strikes. The Ukrainian military said the strike caused multiple explosions and a large fire at the site. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces have taken control of the village of Yablukove in Ukraine's Zaporizhia region.

Most of the Palestinians released by Israel had been arrested in Gaza on suspicion of taking part in hostilities during the war and held without charge, and they were sent back to the territory. But 250 of them were serving long sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis. For 154 of those prisoners, their freedom came with a major condition: They were sent into exile, never to return to their homes in the Palestinian territories. They were sent to Cairo, with their final destination still undetermined.

Ukraine's top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, said the army's situation has significantly worsened in parts of the southeastern Zaporizhia region amid fierce fighting with Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he had received an update from Syrskii, which conveyed that the situation remains difficult in the Zaporizhia region, as well as in the direction of the embattled city of Pokrovsk. Zaporizhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said that a Russian drone attack killed a 56-year-old man in the Polohivskyi district. Also in Zaporizhia, the Kushuhum Village Council announced in a post on the Telegram messaging app that families with children must begin mandatory evacuations from the area.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday set a countdown for Hamas to accept Washington's 20point peace plan for Gaza, which was made public last Monday and already has Israel's approval. In a message on Truth Social, his social network, the Republican gave the Palestinian fundamentalist group an ultimatum that expires at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, Washington time, to respond. He threatened them with all hell if they do not accept the proposal.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomed the release of Amir Amiry, saying it marked the administration's determination, reinforced by Donald Trump's recent executive order, to protect American nationals from wrongful detention abroad. While this marks an important step forward, additional Americans remain unjustly detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will not rest until all our captive citizens are back home.

Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton University student Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was held captive in Iraq for more than two years, was released earlier this week in an exchange deal with Israel, according to a report by Iran's Tasnim News Agency. Two prisoners, including a Lebanese national seized in 2024, were released by Israel in exchange for the freedom of Tsurkov, whom Tasnim described in its report on Thursday as an Israeli spy.

Joseph Tater was detained in Moscow on August 12, 2024, on suspicion of 'petty hooliganism' and later faced charges related to violence against a police officer.