Ukraine's POW authority urges Russia not to delay agreed prisoner swaps

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has called on the Russian side not to delay the prisoner exchanges agreed upon in Istanbul.

Source: Coordination Headquarters; Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Quote: "Ukraine is strictly adhering to the agreements reached in Istanbul on prisoner exchanges and hopes the Russian side is ready to do the same. Today, following another successful stage of exchanging severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners, the Russian side claimed that Ukraine is not prepared for 'daily exchanges'."

Details: The Coordination Headquarters stated that such claims are regarded as further manipulation of information and as the latest batch of disinformation from Russia, which has accompanied every stage of the exchanges agreed upon in Istanbul.

The agency clarified that it was in fact the Russian side that proposed postponing the exchanges to later dates, but at the insistence of the Ukrainian negotiation team, the exchanges will proceed and are scheduled to take place in the coming days.

Budanov also noted that the next stage of the exchange is expected shortly.

Background:

• At the negotiations in Istanbul on 2 June, Ukraine and Russia agreed on a 6,000-for-6,000 exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers. The Ukrainian and Russian delegations also agreed on an all-for-all exchange of seriously wounded service members and those aged 18-25.
• On 9 June, the first group of released servicemen under the age of 25 returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity as part of the first stage of the 66th prisoner exchange.
• On 10 June, Ukraine brought back from Russian captivity a group of defenders who had suffered severe injuries and have serious health conditions.
• On 11 June, the bodies of 1,212 fallen defenders were brought back to Ukraine as a result of repatriation efforts.
• The Coordination Headquarters emphasised that for security reasons, the exact number of released service members will be announced upon completion of the exchange process.

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