Russia and Ukraine were set to take part in a major prisoner swap on Friday, described as the biggest since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Officials from both countries agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, during otherwise fruitless peace negotiations in Istanbul a week ago.

Russian armed forces are creating a “security buffer zone” along the border between Russia and Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cast doubt on Friday over the Vatican as a potential location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the Holy See itself would find it uncomfortable to host two mainly Orthodox Christian nations.

Ukraine pioneered the use of small drones on the battlefield. But in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s fiber-optic cables helped turn the tide.