Ukraine denies having « postponed » change of prisoners with Russia

Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of postponing the exchange of prisoners and thousands of dead soldiers that should have occurred this weekend.

« The Ukrainian part unexpectedly postponed the reception of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war to an indeterminate date. They had several reasons and all quite strange, » said Russian negotiating team chief Vladimir Medinski on Telegram.

It is recalled that the agreement was achieved after the second negotiation session between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey.

In this sense, Medinski said that the Russian part, « in strict compliance with the agreed in Istanbul, » began Friday to fulfill the humanitarian agreement, by delivering Ukraine 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian army military.

« The first batch of frozen corpses of soldiers from the Ukraine Armed Forces, 1,212 bodies, has arrived in fridge trucks to the scene. The rest are on the way, » he said.

Medinski appealed to Kyiv to « strictly fulfill the schedule and all the agreements achieved, and make the change immediately. »

« We appeal to the Russian party so that it does not create artificial obstacles or disclose false statements to prevent the return of Ukrainian prisoners or not to repay their own prisoners, » said Ukraine Ministry of Defense, in a note published on Telegram.

« Ukraine has delivered its lists for the exchange, elaborated based on the clearly defined categories during the negotiations in Istanbul: severely injured, severely sick, according to the formula ‘All by all’ and young soldiers, » the coordination barracks also said for the treatment of war prisoners.

« The Russian part presented lists that do not correspond to the agreed criterion. Ukraine made the relevant comments and now the next step is up to the Russian part, » he added.