Ukraine and Russia exchanged another group of ill and severely wounded servicemen on Thursday, officials from both countries said.

The Russia Day holiday marks the country's 1990 declaration of sovereignty, more than a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

ODESA, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday Russia was determined to sow chaos in and destroy the south of his country as well as nearby Moldova and Romania, and called for increased pressure on Moscow to prevent further military threats.

A concentrated, nine-minute-long Russian drone attack on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv on Wednesday killed six people and injured 64, including nine children, Ukrainian officials said. The attack followed Russia's two biggest air assaults of the war on Ukraine this week,

It is designed to make the West think a Kremlin victory is inevitable.

Russian forces have advanced into Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, in fresh bid for Ukrainian land beyond what Moscow's already annexed.

A new prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia has begun, officials in both countries said Monday, with Ukrainian soldiers who have spent nearly the entire duration of the war in captivity among those returning home.

Apart from drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine.

Ukraine's president says a new prisoner exchange with Russia is ongoing and will take days, as both sides continue launching hundreds of attack drones.

The Russian military has launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump’s assessment of the threat posed by Russia and the ongoing protests and violence in Los Angeles, The Washington Post reports.