A planned exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war failed to take place on Saturday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of postponing the swap at the last minute, which Ukrainian officials dismissed as more “dirty games” from the Kremlin.

A large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine -- the only concrete outcome of peace talks -- was in doubt Saturday after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of delaying

Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale exchange of captured soldiers, hours after Moscow's army launched a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across the country.

Russia struck Ukraine with a thunderous aerial bombardment overnight, further dampening hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon.

It restated Moscow's demands that Ukraine become a neutral country - ruling out membership of NATO - and that it protect the rights of Russian speakers, make Russian an official language and enact a legal ban on glorification of Nazism. Ukraine rejects the Nazi charge as absurd and denies discriminating against Russian speakers.

Since last sitting down with Ukraine to talk peace, Russia has launched four of its five largest drone attacks against the country, killed more than 340 of its civilians and continued to peddle its false narrative about the unprovoked war it has been waging for more than a decade.