Ukraine

KIEV, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100 Ukrainian captives, including 20 women, were released in the latest prisoner swap with Russia, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.

Among those freed were Ukrainian army soldiers, national guard and navy servicemen, and border guards, said the head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak.

Some of those released are either wounded or seriously ill, Yermak wrote on Telegram.

He gave no details on the number of Russian troops released by Ukraine under the swap deal.

KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine has been forced to amend some of its military plans ahead of a much-vaunted counter-offensive due to a leak of classified U.S. documents, CNN reported on Monday citing a source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Ukrainian officials told Reuters on Friday the allegedly leaked documents contained fictitious information and looked like a Russian disinformation campaign.

KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) - Russian forces pressed attacks on frontline cities in eastern Ukraine on Monday, while Ukrainian officials played down a report that Kyiv is amending some plans for a counter-offensive due to a leak of classified U.S. documents.

The Russians were pounding Ukrainian positions around besieged Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and other cities and towns with air strikes and artillery barrages, Kyiv said.

BOHOYAVLENKA, Ukraine (AP) — In a small village in eastern Ukraine the sounds of war echo in the distance while 10-year old Khrystyna Ksenofontova plays. She pets the neighborhood cats, paints and, like everyone else here, hopes the fighting will end soon.

The small village of Bohoyavlenka, in Donetsk province, lies 20 kilometers (13 miles) from the active front line. Khrystyna’s days are spent scrounging the bits of childhood she still can. Her family refuses to evacuate and lives under a cloud of constant shelling. She wears headphones to block out the booms of the explosions.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported Sunday as Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used their traditional Easter messages to highlight the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world.

DNIPROPETROVSK OBLAST, Ukraine (AP) — Deep underground in southeastern Ukraine, miners work around the clock extracting coal to power the country’s war effort and to provide civilians with light and heat.

Coal is central to meeting Ukraine’s energy needs following the Russia’s military’s 6-month campaign to destroy power stations and other infrastructure, the chief engineer of a mining company in Dnipropetrovsk province said.

KYIV, April 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine's leaders discussed ways to prevent leaks of military information on Friday after secret documents detailing U.S. and NATO efforts to help the country plan a counter-offensive against Russia's invasion reportedly appeared on social media.

The New York Times said on Thursday, citing senior U.S. officials, that classified war documents were posted this week on Twitter and Telegram, which is widely used in Russia.

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine, April 6 (Reuters) - Ukrainian and Russian forces battled in Bakhmut, the devastated eastern city which has become a symbol of Kyiv's defiance, while seven civilians were reported killed by Ukrainian artillery strikes in Russian-controlled areas.

Ukrainian soldiers in trenches just outside Bakhmut said they were ready for a long-anticipated counter-offensive once the weather improves. Elsewhere, other Ukrainian recruits trained hard for new combat missions.

KYIV, April 6 (Reuters) - A top Ukrainian air commander said Ukraine was in dire need of F-16 fighter jets, which he described on Thursday as "four or five times" more effective than the Soviet-era planes currently used by Ukraine.

Serhiy Holubtsov, one of the most senior commanders in the Air Force, said that while donations of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets by allies were an "important step," the planes did not fully meet Ukraine's battlefield requirements.

CHERKASY REGION, Ukraine, April 5 (Reuters) - More than a year into Russia's full-scale invasion, Aleks, a translator with no prior military experience, was advancing through forest with rifle raised, training to ambush enemy forces in one of Ukraine's newest military units.

Border of Steel is one of eight new storm brigades totalling 40,000 soldiers that Ukraine wants to use during a counter-offensive against Russian occupiers in coming weeks or months.