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KYIV, Ukraine — <\/span>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile attack<\/a> on a Kyiv apartment building the previous day killed 24 people, including three children.<\/p>\n Emergency workers finished digging through the building\u2019s rubble after more than a day, Zelenskyy said on X.<\/p>\n The cruise missile hit the nine-story corner block during what the Ukrainian air force said was Russia\u2019s biggest barrage of the country since its all-out invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n The assault mostly targeted the Ukrainian capital, where 48 people were wounded, including two children, Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n Russia hammered Ukraine with large-scale aerial attacks in the days following a May 9-11 ceasefire<\/a> that U.S. President Donald Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. Fighting went on<\/a> over those 72 hours, although reportedly on a lesser scale.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s attacks ran counter to recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, now in its fifth year, is close to ending.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said Thursday that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday. In all, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, he said.<\/p>\n Previously, the biggest Russian drone attack was from the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24 when Moscow\u2019s forces fired nearly 1,000 drones and missiles at Ukraine.<\/p>\n The Ukrainian capital observed an official day of mourning Friday in remembrance of those killed.<\/p>\n The cruise missile that hit the apartment building was built in the second quarter of this year, Zelenskyy said, apparently after Ukrainian experts analyzed the wreckage.<\/p>\n \u201cThis means Russia is still importing the components, resources, and equipment necessary for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions,\u201d Zelenskyy said in another post on X late Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cStopping Russia\u2019s sanctions evasion schemes must be a genuine priority for all our partners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Russia and Ukraine have continued to occasionally swap prisoners of war, and 205 from each country returned home Friday.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy said it was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Some of the Ukrainians released had been held in Russian captivity since 2022, he said, and had fought in some of the war\u2019s fiercest battles.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange and thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping broker it.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n