Russia’s allegations that Ukraine is delaying the exchange of soldiers are false, authorities said on Saturday (7).
Kremlin’s advisor Vladimir Medinsky said that Ukraine unexpectedly postponed the exchange of prisoners of war and the acceptance of the bodies of the soldiers killed for an indefinite period. Already Ukraine insisted for Russia to stop “dirty games” and return to construction work.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said it expects the Ukrainian authorities to soon make the decisions necessary for the exchange of prisoners of war and the transfer of the dead Ukrainian military bodies.
“So far, Kiev has not given his consent to the conduct of humanitarian operations. Representatives of the Ukrainian contact group have not attended the scene of the meeting. We did not know the reason for the delay,” the ministry said in a statement, quoting Deputy Defense, Alexander Fomin.
The two countries held the second round of peace negotiations in Istanbul on Monday (2), where they agreed to change more prisoners, focusing on the younger and seriously injured, and returning the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers.
“The statements on the Russian side do not correspond to reality or previous agreements on prisoners or bodies repatriation,” said Ukraine state coordination headquarters for the treatment of war prisoners on a Telegram channel.
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It was also stated that the agreement on the repatriation of the bodies was actually reached, but that no date was agreed and that “the Russian side appealed to unilateral actions” that were not decided in the process.
Medinsky said Russia delivered to Ukraine the first list of 640 war prisoners, categorized as “wounded, severely sick and young,” to start the exchange.
Ukraine, in turn, said it also delivered the names for exchange, while Russia’s lists did not correspond to the approach discussed in the agreement on which prisoners would be prioritized.
