Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday that 500,000 Russian troops are surrounding Ukraine and Russia is looking to add 200,000 to 300,000 more in the coming months.

He told the annual meeting in Aspen, Colorado, that 550,000 Russians have been killed or wounded so far in the 2-year-old war and that Russia is relying heavily on mercenaries, including those from Africa.

On Ukraine’s push to loosen restrictions by the U.S. and some others on the use of long-range weapons against targets deep inside Russia, Umerov said, “We want to change it from a limit on length to a focus on functional[ity].”

“The work is still in progress,” he added. “We want to say it loudly. We are focusing on the military targets.”

Earlier, Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday the country’s air defenses destroyed five Ukrainian aerial drones, including attacks on the Bryansk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions, all of which border Ukraine.

Officials in Bryansk and Voronezh said on the messaging app Telegram there were no casualties or damage from the downed drones.

In Russia’s Kursk region, which borders northeastern Ukraine, Governor Alexey Smirnov said a Ukrainian helicopter struck a fire station, injuring one person and damaging several cars.

Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it destroyed four Russian reconnaissance drones.

Russian aerial attacks also included missiles directed at the Odesa and Kherson regions, the Ukrainian air force said.

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Wednesday on Telegram that Russian attacks during the past day injured at least seven people and damaged more than 20 residential buildings.

Officials in the Kharkiv region also reported Wednesday damage to residential buildings from Russian shelling.

Serhiy Lysak, governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram that Russia attacked the area with artillery fire and kamikaze drones, but no injuries were reported.

Despite increasing tensions, Russia and Ukraine swapped 95 prisoners each on Wednesday, exchanging 190 prisoners in total.

It was the third prisoner swap between the two countries in seven weeks – the 54th since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The United Arab Emirates helps facilitate the swaps, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UAE for assisting in Wednesday’s exchange.

In a post on Telegram on Wednesday Russia’s Defense Ministry said prisoners were in “mortal danger” while in Ukrainian captivity.

The Ukrainian Coordinating Committee on Dealing with Prisoners of War said on Telegram that many of the returned soldiers “suffer from consequences of their wounds and have chronic diseases that require long-term treatment.”

The United Nations has said that Ukrainian prisoners routinely suffer from torture and neglect while in Russian captivity. They have also reported isolated incidents of mistreatment of Russian soldiers while in Ukrainian captivity. The mistreatment is said to typically occur when Ukraine captures Russian soldiers and when transitioning prisoners to internment camps. (VOA, but headline rejigged)

•FILE PHOTO: Russian soldiers fire from a BM-21 “Grad” self-propelled 122mm multiple rocket launcher at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, July 1, 2024

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