Russian ombudsman Tetiana Moskalkova published a list of 630 Ukrainian prisoners of war whom Ukraine allegedly "does not want" to take. However, the published list is yet another manipulation by the Kremlin and an attempt to discredit Ukrainian state bodies.
Points of attention
- The Russian ombudsman is trying to discredit Ukrainian state bodies through false offers to exchange prisoners.
- Ukraine is actively working on the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and is ready for exchanges, while the Russian side ignores initiatives.
- The detention of Russian prisoners in Ukraine takes place in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Ukraine has not received any real proposals for the exchange of Ukrainian prisoners of war
This was reported by the Secretary of the Coordination Staff, the Deputy Chief of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Brigadier General Dmytro Usov.
It is noted that in the list distributed by the Russian Federation, 7 prisoners have already been exchanged, there are many mistakes in surnames and dates of birth, among the surnames there are 14 civilians. That is, Russian propagandists offer to exchange our ordinary citizens for their military, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.
From the Russian side, there are loud statements about the number of prisoners that they can apparently exchange, even lists appear. Of course, we did not receive any real offers through official channels. This game of the Russians is only for the public, and it is especially cynical. They manipulate the destinies of people and the vulnerable position of relatives. However, these lists and loud statements are only intended to destabilize the situation. This is an attempt to discredit Ukrainian state bodies.
Dmytro Usov
Brigadier General, Secretary of the Coordination Staff, Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
According to Dmytro Usov, in fact, the Coordination Headquarters only receives real proposals from the Russian side regarding the exchange of prisoners captured in the Kursk direction. The so-called Russian authorities are not interested in captured Russians from other regions, Deputy Budanov emphasized.
Hundreds of Russian prisoners, including seriously wounded ones, have been languishing in Ukrainian camps for over a year or two. There are those whose fate the aggressor country is not interested in from the very beginning of the invasion.
At the same time, the conditions of detention of the Russian invaders cannot be compared with Russian torture camps, the brigadier general emphasized. The Ukrainian side keeps prisoners of war in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Conventions with only one goal: to exchange them for Ukrainian defenders as soon as possible.
There is no other reason to keep them with us and spend our taxpayers' money on them. We also did not see our seriously wounded and women in the published lists. And it is precisely these categories that should be returned in accordance with international humanitarian law in the first place. Russia does not follow any laws of war and does not want to do so. The so-called Russian government was not interested in the fate of its own citizens and is not interested. Propagandists play to the public. The real mechanisms of return — repatriation, mixed medical commissions, exchange "all for all" — are still reliably blocked by the Kremlin.
What preceded it
Russian ombudsman Tetiana Moskalkova published a list of 630 Ukrainian prisoners of war whom Ukraine allegedly "does not want" to take. Moskalkova stated that the Ukrainian side allegedly "continues to delay the Russian-Ukrainian exchange of prisoners."
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, denied these words, noting that Ukraine is ready to take all its citizens from captivity and illegal detention, emphasizing another manipulation of the aggressor state.
Russian methods remain unchanged and as always cynical about those people who are waiting for their Defenders to return home! Ukraine does not and has not delayed the implementation of exchanges, on the contrary, it has declared its readiness to repatriate severely wounded and seriously ill prisoners, having created a mixed medical commission. And the party, which is really not interested in returning and implementing exchanges, still ignores the creation of such a commission!
Dmytro Lubinets
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights
