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Russia shoots down missiles over Crimea and regions bordering Ukraine

Women look at a house destroyed by recent Ukrainian strikes in the town of Valuyki, near the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region
Women look at a house destroyed by recent Ukrainian strikes in the town of Valuyki, near the border with Ukraine in the Belgorod region

Russian air defence systems have shot down four missiles, Russian officials said, one over the annexed Crimean peninsula and three over Russia's Rostov and Bryansk regions that border Ukraine.

A cruise missile was shot down near the city of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula without inflicting any damage or casualties, Russia-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

He did not specify where the missile had been launched from.

Crimea was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

Local officials said traffic movement on the Crimean Bridge that links the peninsula to the Russian mainland was restored after an apparent suspension.

No reason for the traffic halt was given.

In another incident, air defences shot down a Ukrainian missile over Russia's Rostov region, Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram.

"There were no casualties. The debris partially damaged the roofs of several buildings," Mr Golubev wrote.

Alexander Bogomaz, governor of Bryansk, wrote on Telegram that the Russian military had shot down two Ukrainian missiles.

A saw mill was totally destroyed as result of one of the missiles falling, Mr Bogomaz said.

Moscow regularly accuses Ukraine of attacks against targets inside Russia.

Kyiv has denied this, saying it is fighting adefensive war on its own territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky greets commanders of the defenders of Mariupol in Lviv, Ukraine

Russia accuses Ukraine of breaching detention agreement

Russia has accused Turkey and Ukraine of breaching the terms of an agreement on the detention of Ukrainian military officers.

Yesterday the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he had returned home from a visit to Turkey with five Ukrainian army commanders.

They had been captured by Russia after the siege at the steel plant in Mariupol in May last year and had been sent to Turkey in September under a prisoner exchange deal.

Russia immediately denounced the release. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Turkish government had promised under the exchange agreement to keep the men in Turkey and complained Moscow had not been informed.

The five commanders have been lionised in Ukraine after leading a fierce three-month defence of Mariupol from the Azovstal steel plant last year, the biggest city Russia has captured.

"We are returning home from Turkey and bringing our heroes home," said Mr Zelensky, who met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Istanbul on Friday.

Thousands of civilians were killed in Mariupol when Russian forces laid the city to waste in the first months of the war.

The Ukrainian defenders held out in tunnels and bunkers under the Azovstal plant, until finally ordered by Kyiv to surrender in May last year.

Russia freed some of them in September in a prisoner swap brokered by the Turkish government, under terms that required the commanders to remain in Turkey until the end of the war.

Commanders of the defenders of Mariupol met with relatives in Lviv, Ukraine yesterday

Mr Peskov told Russia's RIA news agency: "No one informed us about this. According to the agreements, these ringleaders were to remain on the territory of Turkey until the end of the conflict."

He said the release was a result of heavy pressure from Turkey's NATO allies ahead of next week's summit of the military alliance at which Ukraine hopes to receive a positive sign about its future membership.

In his remarks, Mr Zelensky gave no explanation for why the commanders were allowed to return home now. Turkey's Directorate of Communications did not respond to a request for comment.

In a ceremony later alongside the men in the western city of Lviv, Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Erdogan for helping secure their release and pledged to bring home all remaining prisoners.

He said that before the outbreak of war, "many people in the world still did not understand what we are, what you are, what to expect from us and what our heroes are. Now everyone understands."

Many Ukrainians hailed the return of the men.

"Finally! The best news ever. Congratulations to our brothers!" Major Maksym Zhorin, fighting in eastern Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Referring to a counter-offensive launched by Ukrainian forces in the past month, Denys Prokopenko, one of the five commanders, told the gathering that his men "will have our word to say in the battles. The most important thing is that Ukraine has seized the strategic initiative and is advancing."

In honour of the 500th day of the war, Mr Zelensky also visited Snake Island, a Black Sea outcrop which Russian forces seized on the day of the invasion and later abandoned.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the 500 days by describing Russia as "the sole obstacle to a just and lasting peace" and promising to back Kyiv "for as long as it takes".

France's foreign ministry said the time frame "must bring Russia to the realisation that it is in an impasse and immediately stop its illegal war of aggression".

The latest US pledge of support included plans to supply widely banned cluster munitions. Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov promised the munitions would not be used in Russia.

The general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said Ukrainian forces "continued offensive operations" in two sectors in the southeast yesterday.

Officials say Ukrainian forces have also taken back areas around the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut - captured by Russian forces in May after months of battles.