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

Ukraine and Russia completed the first day of what is expected to be the largest prisoner swap of the war, with each side ultimately expected to get back 1,000 people.Ukrainian and Russian officials said that each side had received 270 military personnel and 120 civilians on Friday.

War experts believe Moscow is planning a summer offensive in Ukraine. Economic and military pressures closer to home could end up pushing Moscow into peace talks. A slowdown in inflation, declining industrial output and consumer spending all point to a slowdown in the Russian economy.

President Vladimir Putin visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Moscow said that it drove out Ukrainian forces from the area last month, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Putin visited the region bordering Ukraine the previous day,

Russian forces are working to establish a buffer zone along the country's border with Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, following his return from the Kursk region in southern Russia.

Russia and Ukraine each released 390 prisoners on Friday and said they would free more in the coming days, in what is expected to be the biggest prisoner swap of the war so far. The agreement to exchange 1,

Major Moscow airports shut after Kyiv’s overnight drone strikes - Flight operations suspended at Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports

The Kremlin that its air defenses shot down 485 drones across 14 regions in its control. Several reports indicate other drones found their targets.