The move to curb anti-corruption agencies risked "endangering the values of freedom, democracy in our country and the future of our children," one Ukrainian told NBC News.

Ukraine brought home a new group of prisoners of war from Russia on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, saying it brought to more than 1,000 the number of returning soldiers as agreed at talks in Turkey.

Russia has advanced around Pokrovsk for many months, but has so far failed to entirely encircle or seize control of the city.