Prisoner exchange process delayed: Russia and Ukraine exchange accusations

Russian statements on the exchange of prisoners of war and bodies of the dead do not correspond to reality. The Russian side is delaying the process and playing a dirty game.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, referring to the statement of the Coordination Headquarters for the Issues of Prisoners of War.

“Today’s statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality and the preliminary agreements, either on the exchange of prisoners or on the repatriation of bodies,” the Coordination Headquarters noted.

“On the exchange of prisoners, Ukraine presented exchange lists, which were drawn up in accordance with the groups agreed upon and clearly defined during the negotiations in Istanbul: seriously wounded, seriously ill on the principle of “all for all”, as well as young servicemen. Ukraine has provided relevant comments and expects the next step from the Russian side,” the headquarters’ statement said.

Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, in turn, said that the Ukrainian authorities have postponed the start of a new exchange. According to him, the Russian side has brought “part of the frozen bodies of Ukrainian soldiers” to the exchange zone - 1,212 bodies, and has handed over to Kiev a list of 640 prisoners of war, whom it is ready to exchange first. According to him, a contact group of the Russian Defense Ministry is also operating on the border with Ukraine. However, according to Medinsky, the Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed both the reception of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period.

“For some reason, their negotiating team did not even arrive at the exchange site. The reasons given are different and quite strange,” Medinsky wrote on his Telegram channel.