Russia pushes misinformation to block prisoner swap, insiders reveal
Photo: Russians are trying to hinder the prisoner exchange (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Preparation is underway for the prisoner exchange agreed upon by Ukraine and Russia during the second round of talks in Istanbul. However, Moscow is attempting to interfere with disinformation. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing sources.
"The Russian side is doing everything to interfere with this informationally, with a lot of different disinformation. For example, about repatriation, exchange of bodies all for all. This is fake news spread by the Russians through their officials," a source told RBC-Ukraine.
As is known, recently one of the Russian representatives, Vladimir Rogov, claimed that the exchange of bodies of deceased soldiers between Ukraine and Russia had begun. He also accused the Ukrainian side of allegedly refusing to collect over 500 bodies. These statements were immediately denied by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia
As a reminder, during the negotiations in Istanbul, the Ukrainian and Russian sides agreed to conduct another large-scale exchange. However, this time it will involve not only prisoners but also the bodies of the deceased.
Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange all seriously wounded and critically ill prisoners, young soldiers up to 25 years old, and to return the bodies of 6,000 deceased.
As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, the first exchange could take place as early as this weekend. According to him, Russia was ready to transfer 500 people on Saturday and Sunday.
