Ukraine exchanged POWs with Russia, bringing home 103 defenders, including 82 privates and sergeants, and 21 officers. The freed soldiers are from various military units, with many held captive since the all-out war's early days.
In a bold counterattack, Ukraine's elite Azov Brigade breaks the siege and shifts the momentum near Toretsk — the key stronghold in the Russian push for Donetsk Oblast.
A spokesman for the Khortytsia military unit confirmed that there are indeed some advances by Ukrainian Defense Forces, with Russian forces being driven from their positions in the Serebryansky forest.
The Azov commander said that: ''the colossal combat experience that the soldiers, sergeants and officers of Azov have, combined with modern American weaponry, will become a deadly weapon for the enemies of Ukraine.''
Ukraine's Armed Forces hit large landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, a city in Russian-occupied Crimea.