Russia is ready to exchange prisoners and bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers: what is known

On Saturday, June 7, the Russian side arrived at the place of the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. More than 1,200 refrigerated trucks were brought to the border with Ukraine in special wagons. Meanwhile, representatives of Kiev unexpectedly refused to come and postponed the exchange indefinitely. As a result, the Russian negotiators were forced to clarify the situation. The official comments were given by Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky and Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin. What the representatives of the Russian delegation said is in the Izvestia article.

Medinsky spoke about the disruption of the exchange

Last Monday, June 2, Turkey hosted the second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. The parties exchanged memoranda on the settlement of the conflict and agreed on a large-scale exchange of prisoners on the principle of "all for all."

On the eve of June 6, Russia launched an action to transfer the bodies of dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Vladimir Medinsky, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, wrote about its progress in his Telegram channel.

"In strict accordance with the Istanbul Agreements, on June 6, the Russian side launched a humanitarian action to transfer more than 6,000 bodies of dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as to exchange wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war and prisoners of war under the age of 25," he said.

The first 1,212 bodies, according to Medinsky, have already been delivered to the exchange area, the rest are "on the way." He added that the first list, including 640 prisoners of war, had also been handed over to Kiev.

"In full compliance with the agreements reached in Istanbul, we have prepared more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are in refrigerated trucks, frozen, and in special wagons, in the form of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many of them with documents, for transfer to the Ukrainian side," said the assistant to the Russian president.

The Russian Defense Ministry's contact group is already on the border with Ukraine, he noted. However, Kiev suddenly decided to postpone indefinitely the acceptance of the bodies and prisoners of war. There are no representatives of the Ukrainian side or exchange lists at the place of the proposed exchange.

"For some reason, their group of negotiators did not even arrive at the exchange site. The reasons are called different, and rather strange. We urge Kiev to strictly adhere to the schedule and all agreements reached, and immediately begin the exchange. Let, as we agreed, 1,200 soldiers and officers from each side have a chance to return home," Medinsky stressed in his statement.

He called on the international media to come to the place where the bodies and prisoners of war were transferred and make sure that the Russian side was ready for the exchange. "Russia always keeps its word," stressed the head of the Russian delegation at the talks with Ukraine.

What the Ministry of Defense reports

The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced Russia's readiness to implement the agreements reached in Istanbul. This was announced by the representative of the Russian negotiating group, Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin.

"I confirm that we are fully prepared to implement the agreements we reached in Istanbul. We are ready to transfer all the bodies, as well as carry out the exchange of prisoners of war according to the established formula," he said.

A convoy with 1,212 bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen subject to repatriation has already arrived in the exchange area, said the head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

"Three more echelons are being prepared for dispatch in the near future, each with 1,200 bodies, and one automobile echelon, which will also contain 1,200 bodies. The total number will be more than 6,000 people," Zorin explained.

He also noted that the Ukrainian side had not confirmed the exchange on June 7 and had not specified a new date for it.

"The Russian side has handed over to the Ukrainian side a list of 640 names, but the Ukrainian side has so far refrained from setting a date for the return of these persons and handing over to the Russian side the appropriate number of Russian military prisoners of war," the Lieutenant General said.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the incident, stressed that there is no such people or ethnic group in the world that would refuse to bury their soldiers.

"Ukraine does not need its own citizens, neither the living nor the dead," she said.

According to Zakharova, Kiev professes a misanthropic ideology and commits genocide of its own people.

Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, also commented on the postponement of the acceptance of the bodies. He called the current situation a "rare cynicism" towards the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"In general, this behavior is a rare cynicism and disregard for the memory of their own fallen on the battlefield. The rotten essence of the Bandera terrorist cell is seen both in Ukraine itself and by sane forces in the world," he stressed.

Slutsky added that Ukraine regularly sabotages the agreements reached, including due to internal reasons related to payments.

Subsequently, Kiev nevertheless commented on the situation with the breakdown of the prisoner exchange and the transfer of the bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for Prisoners of War, Pyotr Yatsenko, told the BBC about the postponement of repatriation to next week.

How did the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev go?

The second round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place on June 2 in Istanbul. The parties exchanged memoranda and reached a number of specific agreements related to the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky noted that the Russian side had submitted a memorandum with the conditions for concluding a long-term peace and ceasefire. In addition, the parties agreed on a 1,200-1,200 prisoner exchange, which is scheduled to take place between June 7-9. Russia also proposed to create a communication line to promptly resolve issues of urgent transfer of seriously wounded prisoners of war to each other outside the framework of general exchanges. The Russian delegation declared its readiness to transfer to Kiev more than 6 thousand bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia is also ready to accept the bodies of Russian soldiers. The Russian Federation is considering the issue of family reunification — Kiev has handed over to Moscow a list of 339 Ukrainian children evacuated from the war zone.

At the same time, on the eve of the second round of negotiations, on the night of June 1, Ukraine committed a series of terrorist attacks on railway infrastructure in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.

Vladimir Putin, commenting on them, noted that what happened was a targeted attack on civilians, and according to all international norms such actions are called terrorism.

"This only confirms our fears that the already illegitimate regime in Kiev, which once seized power, is gradually degenerating into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists," the president stressed.

How Ukraine reacted to the negotiations

Despite the efforts of the Russian side, official Kiev was not ready to reach new agreements. On Wednesday, June 4, Vladimir Zelensky said at a press conference broadcast on the Ukrainian news telethon that he did not take Russia's memorandum seriously, calling it an "ultimatum."

He accused the Russian Federation of the fact that the rounds of negotiations held in Istanbul did not differ from each other. In this regard, he spoke about Kiev's unwillingness to continue further diplomatic meetings, pointing out their "meaninglessness."

Zelensky is convinced that the exchanges proposed by Russia are not necessary for Ukraine in the first place. He also stated that he was dissatisfied with the document prepared by the Russian delegation, since it was prepared by "low-level people," and once again reminded that he was ready for a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaving the choice of location to Russia's discretion.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to Vladimir Zelensky's statement. During a meeting with the president, he stated that he considered it a mistake for the Ukrainian side to refuse pauses to collect the dead and other humanitarian proposals from Russia.

When will the third round of negotiations take place

Meanwhile, Dmitry Peskov, the official representative of the Russian leader, assessed the likelihood of organizing a third round of negotiations with Ukraine. He stressed that the timing of the meeting depends on the willingness of both sides and requires time to study the memoranda.

The presidential press secretary added that the two countries' contacts on the organization of the negotiation process are continuing, during which acceptable dates for the next meetings will be "groped".