Russia-Ukraine planned exchange of prisoners turns into dispute

Moscow [Russia], June 8 : A planned exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine did not happen on Saturday due to disagreements between the two sides, CNN reported.

Russia claimed that Ukraine postponed the exchange at the last minute, while Ukraine denied this, saying that a date for the exchange of prisoners and bodies of dead soldiers had not been finalised.

Ukraine described Russia's claims about the failed exchange as "dirty games."

According to Russia, over 1,200 frozen Ukrainian bodies were left waiting in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point.

However, Ukraine stated that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops, but a specific date had not been set for the repatriation of soldiers' bodies, as per CNN.

Despite the failed exchange, Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold another prisoner swap this weekend during peace talks in Istanbul. Vladimir Medinsky, head of Russia's delegation, said that this exchange would be the largest since the war began.

"In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, the Russian side began a humanitarian operation to transfer more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian servicemen," as well as badly wounded soldiers under the age of 25, Medinsky said Saturday afternoon on Telegram.

He claimed that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were at the exchange point, with the rest "on their way."

He also said that Russia gave Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war for exchange, listed as "wounded, seriously ill and young people," in order to start the swap.

In a video posted by Russia's Defence Ministry on Telegram, two men wearing hazmat suits are seen opening the doors to the back of a truck parked on the side of a road. Inside the truck were dozens of sealed white bags, which the ministry said contained the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.

Medinsky said Russia's Defense Ministry contact group was waiting at the border with Ukraine, but alleged that Kyiv had "unexpectedly postponed the transfer of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period" and had given "pretty weird reasons" for doing so.

Ukraine swiftly rejected the accusations, saying Medinsky's claims "do not correspond to reality." It said the exchange of prisoners of war and soldiers' bodies were separate processes.

"Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian issues for informational purposes," Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War wrote on Telegram.

"We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games," it added.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry said Russia was creating "artificial obstacles" and making "false statements" to obstruct the exchange of living prisoners, reneging on what had been agreed in Istanbul.

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