War in Ukraine: Moscow and Kyiv argue about prisoners and dead soldiers

Russia and Ukraine argue about the implementation of their prisoner exchange agreed in Istanbul at the beginning of this week and to take over more than 6,000 dead soldiers. The Russian side is waiting with 1,212 frozen corpses at the transfer point, Moscow said negotiator Vladimir Medinski near Telegram. The other remains are also on the way. The Ministry of Defense published a video on which white sacks with the alleged corpses were seen in trucks.

The Ukrainian coordination staff criticized that the time of the handover was not agreed, but had been determined on its own. The staff spoke in a message from Telegram of “dirty games” and asked the Russian side to return to a constructive work.

The staff in Kiev said that the agreements of the representatives of Kiev and Moscow can take place “in the coming days” in Istanbul. At the same time, Ukraine rejected Russian allegations, the exchanges of the prisoners and the takeover of the corpses were delayed.

Ukraine complains of incorrect prisoner lists

The coordination rod also explained that he had handed over its lists to the prisoner exchange of the Russian side – according to the agreement, to exchange soldiers under 25 years as well as seriously ill and injuries. According to Russian information, it should be 1,200 prisoners on each side. The staff in Kiev complained that Moscow had handed over lists that do not correspond to the agreement of Istanbul. Now Russia is on the move, it said. The prisoner exchange was expected for this Saturday and Sunday.

Ukraine was handed over a list of 640 detained for the planned new prisoner exchange, said Medinski. In turn, he accused Kiev of not adhering to agreements and delaying the prisoner exchange. Ukraine should also take over the remains of the dead immediately so that their relatives could say goodbye to them.

In a video of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Alexander Sorin said that the part of the Moscow negotiation group is that the Ukrainian side did not confirm the prisoner exchange on Saturday and postponed indefinitely. He also said that several trucks, each with 1,200 corpses, would be prepared for the trip to the dead soldiers to Ukraine.

Russia is ready to implement all agreements made in Istanbul, the general emphasized. “We are ready to hand over all the bodies and also implement the exchange of war prisoners after the agreed formula,” said Sorin.

The talks in Istanbul were the second direct negotiations after the first round in May, which led to the greatest prisoner exchange so far in the same month. 1,000 soldiers and civilians each came in freedom on each side. Before that, there had been such direct negotiations over the end of the war in 2022. They failed at the time.