Ukraine halts prisoner swap
Kiev has postponed a previously agreed prisoner swap with Moscow, according to Russian Lt. Gen. Alexander Zorin, speaking for the Defense Ministry. The trade would also include the repatriation of over 6,000 bodies of deceased Ukrainian soldiers, he added in a statement published on Saturday.
'Russia handed over to the Ukrainian side a list of 640 names, but the latter is so far refraining from setting a date for the return of these individuals,' said Zorin, who was a member of Moscow's negotiating team in Istanbul. He explained that the exchange agreement covers two groups of prisoners – an 'all-for-all' swap of wounded and critically ill, and those under 25 years old.
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Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine reneging on key peace deal pledge – what we know so far
Ukraine has 'unexpectedly postponed' a prisoner exchange with Russia that was among the key outcomes of negotiations held on Monday in Istanbul, Moscow's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, has said. He also stated that Kiev had refused to accept hundreds of bodies of its fallen the talks in Türkiye earlier this week, the two delegations agreed to exchange at least 1,000 prisoners, prioritizing those heavily wounded and those under 25. On top of that, Russia unilaterally offered to repatriate the remains of over 6,000 slain Ukrainian military personnel as a humanitarian Saturday, Medinsky said that Moscow had provided Kiev with a list of 640 heavily wounded and younger prisoners. However, 'the Ukrainian side unexpectedly postponed… the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period,' the official stated, adding that the Ukrainian team 'did not even arrive at the exchange site.' According to Medinsky, Ukraine gave 'various and rather strange' pretexts for this. The official called on 'Kiev to strictly adhere to the schedule and all agreements that had been reached and to immediately begin the exchange,' stressing that the Russian team is on site and 'fully ready to work.'Russia's top negotiator revealed that Ukraine also refused to accept the bodies of its fallen troops, even though the 'first batch of frozen remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers has already arrived in refrigerated trucks at the exchange area.' Russian Defense Ministry representative, Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Zorin confirmed that this was the case, noting that Moscow had four other convoys, each carrying 1,200 sets of remains, ready for transfer as well. 'We confirm our full readiness to implement the Istanbul agreements. We are prepared to transfer all bodies and proceed with the prisoner exchange as agreed,' the official a statement on Saturday, Kiev's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that 'instead of a constructive dialogue, we are once again faced with manipulation and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian topics for informational purposes.' Ukrainian authorities further insisted that Russian allegations 'do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements – neither regarding the prisoner exchange nor the repatriation of bodies.' The headquarters claimed that Ukraine had submitted its lists of prisoners to be exchanged, but Russia presented 'alternative lists,' which were not previously agreed upon. It also suggested that while an agreement on the repatriation had indeed been reached, no date had been set, with Moscow undertaking 'unilateral steps.'On Wednesday, Medinsky announced that Russia was ready to begin the swap on June 7, 8, and 9, and that this 'would again become the largest prisoner exchange.' Following the first round of direct talks in Istanbul last month, Moscow and Kiev conducted a massive prisoner swap. Earlier this week, the Russian official also expressed readiness to accept any remains of fallen Russian troops that Ukraine may be holding. Additionally, Moscow offered during the talks to establish temporary humanitarian pauses in specific areas of the battlefield, lasting two to three days, so that both sides could gather the remains of their soldiers. Medinsky said Kiev's negotiators initially supported the idea, only for Vladimir Zelensky to publicly reject the proposal shortly thereafter. According to the Russian presidential aide, the two belligerents had agreed to establish special medical commissions to help create exchange lists for severely injured soldiers 'without the need to wait for big political decisions.' The swaps would be held regularly 'in a routine manner,' Medinsky announced at the Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RIA Novosti that Ukraine's refusal to accept the bodies of its own dead shows that the 'Kiev regime does not care about its own citizens, either alive or dead.' Speaking to RT, Russian MP Dmitry Belik described Kiev's actions as 'beyond the pale… barbarity [and] absolutely inhumane behavior, whatever flimsy reasons Kiev is giving.' The lawmaker suggested that Ukrainian authorities could be refusing to accept the return of fallen troops to avoid paying compensation to their relatives. State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky echoed this sentiment, saying that 'such behavior is [an example] of rare cynicism,' showing total disregard for the memory of Ukraine's own fallen two rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine, held on May 16 and June 2, respectively, were the first since the spring of 2022, when Kiev unilaterally pulled out. David Arakhamia, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the time, later stated that the decision was made following a visit to Kiev by then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who he said had advised the Ukrainian government not to sign anything and 'just fight.' Johnson has rejected that account. During the latest round of talks earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine exchanged draft memorandums outlining a roadmap toward an eventual peace deal and indicated a willingness to continue direct contacts.
Russia Today
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Ukraine reports major Russian strikes overnight (VIDEOS)
Ukrainian officials have claimed that Moscow launched multiple waves of missile and drone strikes on Kiev and other cities across the country overnight. The Russian Ministry of Defense has yet to comment. Multiple explosions were reported across several districts of Kiev and its suburbs early Friday morning, with mayor Vitaly Klitschko claiming that Ukrainian air defenses were engaging incoming missiles and drones. The official initially said that debris had only fallen on the territory of non-residential buildings. He later claimed that at least four people were killed and 20 injured. Surveillance footage reportedly captured by a CCTV camera somewhere in the Kiev region appeared to show the moment a US-supplied Patriot air defense system attempted to engage an incoming missile with four interceptors before apparently being hit. 🇷🇺 New footage from Kiev shows U.S.-supplied Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 systems launching interceptors amid a Russian Iskander missile impacts visibly captured on camera despite defensive launches. Blasts were also reported in the western regions of Ternopol and Lviv, in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, in Kremenchug in central Ukraine, and elsewhere across the country. Multiple blurred out videos shared across Ukrainian social media appeared to show the aftermath of the strikes, but the exact locations and the facilities targeted were hard to verify. The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet issued a statement on the incident. Moscow regularly carries out drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, insisting that its operations do not target civilian facilities – and blaming Kiev for placing its air defenses in densely populated areas. On Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck multiple Russian airbases in a coordinated assault targeting long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. Moscow said that most of the incoming drones were intercepted, without confirming any irreparable losses or carrying out any immediate military response. Kiev also targeted multiple civilian sites in acts of railway sabotage over the weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring over 120 in what Moscow branded acts of terrorism. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Wednesday that Moscow 'will have to respond' to the attack on the country's nuclear deterrent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the retaliation would be carried out 'when and how our military deems appropriate.'
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine fails to accept remains of fallen troops
Editor's note: RT initially erroneously reported that a swap of bodies in a 6,000-for-6,000 format had been agreed between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine has not accepted the bodies of its fallen troops which Russia offered to return, providing 'strange reasons' for its decision, according to Moscow's lead negotiator in the peace talks with Kiev, Vladimir Medinsky. Russia decided to repatriate the remains of over 6,000 slain Ukrainian soldiers in a unilateral humanitarian gesture during the talks in Istanbul on Monday. Both sides also agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners each. 'The first batch of frozen remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers has already arrived in refrigerated trucks at the exchange area' on the border between the two countries, he said. 'The rest are on their way,' the negotiator added. Kiev has also been handed a list of 640 heavily wounded and younger prisoners held by Moscow so that they may be exchanged as well, according to Medinsky. 'The contact group of the Russian Ministry of Defense is on the border with Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian side unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period,' he wrote. According to the Russian negotiator, the Ukrainian team 'did not even arrive at the exchange site.' The reasons Kiev provided to justify its decision 'are various, and rather strange,' he said without elaborating. 'We call on Kiev to strictly adhere to the schedule and all agreements that had been reached, and to immediately begin the exchange' so that the wounded could return home and the dead receive a proper burial, Medinsky urged. Moscow's team is on site and 'fully ready to work,' he reiterated, adding that 'Russia always keeps its word.'
