Switzerland is no longer accepting new travel documents from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine and the breakaway regions of Georgia for crossing the external Schengen borders or the issuing of visas, the Federal Council said on Wednesday.

Exceptions to the change in policy, which is effective immediately, are possible if the person possessing the document was a Russian citizen before the cut-off date, it added.

Also Read | Russian mercenary firm claims control over Ukraine's salt mining town of Soledar

Ukraine and Russia agree prisoner swap in Ankara talks -Russian official

Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on Wednesday after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey.

Moskalkova and Lubinets met on the sidelines of an international ombudsman conference in Ankara. Photos showed them sitting on opposite sides of a table. The initial talks lasted for some 40 minutes. A second round began at 0920 GMT. As they met, a battle was raging for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier, Moskalkova had said on the Telegram messaging app that she and Lubinets had discussed humanitarian assistance for citizens of both Russia and Ukraine. They were later expected to visit the Turkish presidential palace, where President Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to make a speech for the conference at 1130 GMT.

A Turkish source said Moskalkova and Lubinets might discuss a humanitarian corridor and the situation of children who had fled the war.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted numerous prisoner swaps - most recently on Sunday - in the course of the war, which is now in its 11th month.

Also read | Russian mercenary firm claims control over Ukraine's salt mining town of Soledar

Ukraine denies Russia controls Soledar, says fighting is intense

Ukraine's military denied on Wednesday that Russian forces had taken control of the eastern town of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War Two.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian forces had not allowed Russian forces to break through front lines.

"The town is not under the control of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going on now," he said. "There is a complicated situation there." He said the military command was "working now on how to stabilise the situation with the maximum impact for the enemy and minimum losses for Ukraine."

Russian mercenary group Wagner has said it has taken control of Soledar, a salt-mining town near the city of Bakhmut where fighting has also been fierce as Russia tries to capture the entire Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "The intensity of battles near Bakhmut can be compared with World War Two," Cherevatyi said.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground in Soledar.

Cherevatyi said Russian forces still had a lot of Soviet-era weapons and were using Soviet-era armoured vehicles with some modernised elements. "Our partners are providing us with more modern weapons," he said, adding that Western weapons were more precise and gave Ukraine an advantage.

(Edited by : Soham Shetty)

First Published:Jan 11, 2023 4:24 PM IST