Moscow: Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of slowing down prisoner exchanges between the two countries. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced on Telegram that he is appealing to his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, to provide a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war that Moscow is ready to urgently return. Lubinets emphasized Ukraine’s readiness to accept all its citizens and engage in prisoner exchanges, while accusing the Russian Federation of deliberately slowing down these processes to influence Ukrainian society.

According to Anadolu Agency, Tatyana Moskalkova stated on Telegram that Moscow has repeatedly asked to intensify prisoner exchanges between the two nations. She accused Ukraine of politicizing the issue, thereby making exchange processes extremely difficult and slow. In a similar vein, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of sabotaging the prisoner swap process during a briefing. Zakharova claimed that the exchanges are politically motivated
by Kyiv and being used as a media tool. She also mentioned that the Russian Defense Ministry proposed transferring 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war as part of exchanges this year, but Kyiv only agreed to the return of 279.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted numerous prisoner exchanges since the conflict between the countries began on February 24, 2022. Despite ongoing efforts, the exchange process remains a contentious issue, with both sides blaming each other for delays and complications.