Kiev ‘sabotaging’ POW swaps – Moscow
Kiev is stonewalling prisoner swaps with Moscow and has “abandoned” several hundred Ukrainian soldiers, refusing to repatriate them despite repeated appeals from Russia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated in a Telegram post on Tuesday.
The diplomat was commenting on a list of Ukrainian soldiers who had been captured that was published earlier on Tuesday by Russia’s top human rights official, Tatyana Moskalkova. The list has 630 names, and, according to the official, includes servicemen who have been awaiting their chance to return home for more than a year.
“The Kiev regime continues to sabotage the prisoner exchange process in every possible way,” Zakharova said in her post. She noted that Moscow has repeatedly offered the Kiev authorities prisoner exchanges, but the “regime” has brushed these proposals off, instead accusing Russia of refusing to release the captives.
“[Kiev] does everything to move away from real, specific work that would bring results in favor of endless international political performances, considering delay as a media tool for promoting its interests,” she stated.
The problem is [the Kiev regime] does not take back its people. [Vladimir] Zelensky does not need 630 Ukrainian citizens who were captured. He abandoned them.
Zakharova noted that the Russian Defense Ministry has sent Ukraine proposals to swap 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war and was ready to allow them to return immediately on parity terms. However, Kiev has so far only agreed to repatriate about 300 servicemen, “giving no reason” as to why “it doesn’t need” the rest.
“Therefore, when you hear that Russia allegedly does not want to conduct exchanges and does not give Ukraine back its people – this is a lie. There are figures and facts. The Kiev regime does not want to take Ukrainian citizens back,” the diplomat stressed.
Commenting on the situation in an interview with journalist Vladimir Solovyov later in the day, Zakharova added that the servicemen Kiev agrees to swap are largely nationalists – “all this terrorist rabble, outright thugs, members of the Azov Battalion, people who are the mainstay of lawlessness in Ukraine” – while ordinary mobilized soldiers and those who had voluntarily surrendered to Russian troops tend to be left behind.
Zakharova slammed Zelensky for what she dubbed “a betrayal of Ukrainian citizens,” calling on Ukrainians to see the lists of prisoners for themselves and “start asking questions.”
The latest announced prisoner swap between Moscow and Kiev took place in October and was mediated by the UAE. The exchange saw 95 servicemen from each side return to their respective countries, as reported by the Russian Defense Ministry. On November 8, the two sides also exchanged the remains of fallen troops, with Ukraine receiving 563 bodies and Russia 37.
