On Sunday, Kyiv urged Moscow to furnish a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war available for exchange following Russia’s allegations that Ukraine was undermining the swap process.
Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets took to his Telegram messaging channel to express his readiness for prisoner exchanges, stating, “We are always ready to exchange prisoners of war!” This message was directed towards his Russian counterpart to obtain a list of Ukrainians.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv and Moscow have engaged in a series of prisoner exchanges. The most recent prisoner swap occurred in mid-October, resulting in each side repatriating 95 individuals.
On Saturday, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Ukraine of effectively undermining the process and refusing to repatriate its citizens.
Zakharova reported that Russia’s defence ministry proposed the transfer of 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war, yet Ukraine accepted only 279 of them.
Lubinets stated that Ukraine remains prepared to welcome its citizens back while accusing Russia of hindering the exchange process.
On Saturday, Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, asserted that Ukraine has “politicized” the matter.
Moskalkova emphasized the importance of resuming constructive dialogue and accelerating the prisoner exchange process in a statement on Telegram.
