Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said on Tuesday that it had hit the bridge connecting Russia and the occupied Crimean peninsula with explosives planted underwater.

Ukraine's SBU security service said on Tuesday that it had hit the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula below the water level with explosives.

It would be the third time Ukraine had struck the bridge. The claim comes two days after one of the country’s most ambitious operations of the war, deep inside Russia.

A second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have ended without a major breakthrough, and only a deal to swap more prisoners of war. Ukrainian negotiators said Russia had again rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand by Kyiv and its allies in Europe and the US - but the two committed to return the bodies of 12,

Russia and Ukraine said they had agreed at peace talks on Monday to exchange more prisoners of war and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers.

Zelenskiy told an online news briefing that negotiators for Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, with the possibility of swapping an additional 200 POWs. He said there was also agreement to return the remains of killed service personnel,