Russia To Give "6,000 Frozen Bodies" To Ukraine Under Prisoner Swap Deal

NDTV

2 days ago

Istanbul:
The second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in the Turkish city of Istanbul ended without any major breakthrough on Monday, but the two warring sides agreed to a deal to swap more prisoners of war. Under the deal, Moscow agreed to hand over about 6,000 frozen bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers to Kyiv by next week, said Vladimir Medinsky, the Kremlin aide who led the Russian delegation in the second round of peace talks.
The two sides have also agreed to exchange all sick and heavily wounded prisoners, as well as those aged under 25, according to Russia's chief negotiator.
"First of all, we will unilaterally hand over 6,000 frozen bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and officers to the Ukrainian side. We have kept them. We have identified all whom we could, held DNA tests and found out who they are...Next week, we will transfer these bodies to the Ukrainian side so that they can bury them in a human manner," Medinsky said.
He said that Moscow is also ready to accept the bodies of Russian servicemen, if the Ukrainian side has them. "If they have some bodies, we will also receive them. So far, we do not know about that," the Russian said.
Medinsky, an ideological Putin aide who has written school textbooks justifying Russia's invasion and has questioned Ukraine's right to exist as a nation, said that Kyiv and Moscow have also agreed to the largest prisoner swap to date.
"All gravely wounded and seriously ill soldiers will be exchanged for all. This is a humanitarian gesture on our part. The same approach - all for all - will be used to exchange young soldiers under the age of 25. The overall exchange quota will be at least 1,000 people from each side, possibly more," he said, adding that the numbers are being finalised by both sides.
Furthermore, Medinsky said that both nations have agreed to create permanent medical commissions that will compile reports which Moscow and Kyiv will use to draw up exchange lists of severely wounded soldiers without having to wait for major political decisions.
"These exchanges will be conducted regularly as part of routine operations," he added.
Medinsky addressed Kyiv's allegation of Russia stealing Ukrainian children and promised to "look into the case".
"Children are central to us...We've been hearing lately that 1.5 million Ukrainian children were abducted by the Russians. Then the number came down to 200,000, and now the official figure is 20,000. We've constantly asked to provide documentary evidence. We finally obtained a complete list...It includes 339 names. We will look into each case," he said.
He denied the allegations of abduction and said that Russian children also lose contact with their families in the midst of a combat zone.
"None of these children have been abducted. Not a single one. These are the children who were rescued by our soldiers, often at the cost of their lives, pulled from combat zones and taken to safety. We are looking for their parents. If the parents are found, the children are returned," he added.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks a day after Ukraine conducted what is seen as a very successful drone attack deep inside Russian territory. The talks ended after about an hour with no clear breakthrough as Russia continues to reject US President Donald Trump's demand for an immediate ceasefire.