Ukraine demands Russia's list for urgent POW exchange
The Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, is urging Russia to provide lists of all Ukrainian prisoners of war eligible for exchange. Moscow accuses Kyiv of obstructing the exchange process.
4 November 2024 13:08
Dmytro Lubinets has requested the Russian Human Rights Commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, to provide lists of Ukrainian prisoners ready for urgent exchange.
"As the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner, I would like to receive from the Russian Human Rights Commissioner (Tatyana Moskalkova) all the lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war that Russia is prepared to urgently exchange!" wrote Lubinets on social media.
"Recently, the Russian side stated that Ukraine 'does not consent' to the repatriation of some of its prisoners. Therefore, I am addressing the Commissioner for these lists with Ukrainian citizens to be handed over to me," he continued.
"We are always ready to conduct prisoner exchanges," he announced. He also emphasised that "usually these processes are hampered by Russia" and are used as a "method of influencing Ukrainian society."
Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of refusing to accept some Ukrainian prisoners as part of the exchange. She added that in 2024, 279 Ukrainian prisoners were exchanged, although Moscow allegedly proposed the exchange of 935 people. She accused the Ukrainian side of "hindering exchange processes" and assessed that Kyiv is "politicising" the issue.
