Latest news with #humanitarianOperation
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Planned Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap descends into blame game and uncertainty
A planned exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war failed to take place on Saturday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of postponing the swap at the last minute, something Ukrainian officials dismissed as 'dirty games' from the Kremlin. Russia said Ukraine unexpectedly postponed a transfer involving prisoners of war and the bodies of dead soldiers, leaving more than 1,200 frozen Ukrainian bodies waiting in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point with no one to collect them. Ukraine rejected Russia's account of the events, saying that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops on Saturday but a date had not yet been set for the repatriation of soldiers' bodies. During a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange more prisoners this weekend. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation for peace talks with Ukraine, said this week that the exchange would be the largest since of the three-year war. 'In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, the Russian side began a humanitarian operation to transfer more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian servicemen,' as well as badly wounded soldiers under the age of 25, Medinsky said Saturday afternoon on Telegram. He claimed that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were at the exchange point, with the rest 'on their way.' He also said that Russia gave Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war for exchange, listed as 'wounded, seriously ill and young people,' in order to start the swap. In a video posted by Russia's Defense Ministry on Telegram, two men wearing hazmat suits are seen opening the doors to the back of a truck parked on the side of a road. Inside the truck were dozens of sealed white bags, which the ministry said contained the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. Medinsky said Russia's Defense Ministry contact group was waiting at the border with Ukraine, but alleged that Kyiv had 'unexpectedly postponed the transfer of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period' and had given 'pretty weird reasons' for doing so. Ukraine swiftly rejected the accusations, saying Medinsky's claims 'do not correspond to reality.' It said the exchange of prisoners of war and soldiers' bodies were separate processes. 'Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian issues for informational purposes,' Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War wrote on Telegram. 'We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games,' it added. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Russia was creating 'artificial obstacles' and making 'false statements' to obstruct the exchange of living prisoners, reneging on what had been agreed in Istanbul. 'The Ukrainian side has faced yet another attempt to renege on the agreements after the fact,' the ministry said. Although prisoner of war swaps had been a rare point of agreement between the warring countries, the unraveling of Saturday's scheduled exchange underscores the lack of trust that has so far marred the peace talks. The spat came soon after Russia launched another aerial assault on Ukraine, killing three people in the city of Kharkiv.
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Planned Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap descends into blame game and uncertainty
A planned exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war failed to take place on Saturday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of postponing the swap at the last minute, something Ukrainian officials dismissed as 'dirty games' from the Kremlin. Russia said Ukraine unexpectedly postponed a transfer involving prisoners of war and the bodies of dead soldiers, leaving more than 1,200 frozen Ukrainian bodies waiting in refrigerated trucks at an exchange point with no one to collect them. Ukraine rejected Russia's account of the events, saying that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops on Saturday but a date had not yet been set for the repatriation of soldiers' bodies. During a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange more prisoners this weekend. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of Russia's delegation for peace talks with Ukraine, said this week that the exchange would be the largest since of the three-year war. 'In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, the Russian side began a humanitarian operation to transfer more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian servicemen,' as well as badly wounded soldiers under the age of 25, Medinsky said Saturday afternoon on Telegram. He claimed that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were at the exchange point, with the rest 'on their way.' He also said that Russia gave Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war for exchange, listed as 'wounded, seriously ill and young people,' in order to start the swap. In a video posted by Russia's Defense Ministry on Telegram, two men wearing hazmat suits are seen opening the doors to the back of a truck parked on the side of a road. Inside the truck were dozens of sealed white bags, which the ministry said contained the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. Medinsky said Russia's Defense Ministry contact group was waiting at the border with Ukraine, but alleged that Kyiv had 'unexpectedly postponed the transfer of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period' and had given 'pretty weird reasons' for doing so. Ukraine swiftly rejected the accusations, saying Medinsky's claims 'do not correspond to reality.' It said the exchange of prisoners of war and soldiers' bodies were separate processes. 'Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations and attempts to use sensitive humanitarian issues for informational purposes,' Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War wrote on Telegram. 'We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games,' it added. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Russia was creating 'artificial obstacles' and making 'false statements' to obstruct the exchange of living prisoners, reneging on what had been agreed in Istanbul. 'The Ukrainian side has faced yet another attempt to renege on the agreements after the fact,' the ministry said. Although prisoner of war swaps had been a rare point of agreement between the warring countries, the unraveling of Saturday's scheduled exchange underscores the lack of trust that has so far marred the peace talks. The spat came soon after Russia launched another aerial assault on Ukraine, killing three people in the city of Kharkiv.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Russia accuses Ukraine of postponing exchange of prisoners and soldiers' bodies
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of indefinitely postponing a scheduled exchange of prisoners of war and soldiers' bodies, leaving more than 1,200 sets of Ukrainian remains waiting at an exchange point with no-one to pick them up. Russia and Ukraine on Monday conducted a second round of peace talks in Istanbul, where the two countries agreed to exchange more prisoners — focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded — and to return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. "In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, on June 6, Russia began a humanitarian operation to hand over to Ukraine more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers, as well as to exchange wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war, and prisoners of war under the age of 25," Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram. He said 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were ready in refrigerated containers at the exchange point, located on the border between the two countries, but Ukrainian negotiators had not shown up. Russia had also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as "wounded, seriously ill and young people", in order to begin the exchange, Mr Medinsky added. Ukrainian officials responsible for the exchanges did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Medinsky urged Ukraine to strictly adhere to the schedule and the agreements, and to immediately proceed with the exchange. "We are on site. We are fully prepared to work. International TV channels, news agencies and correspondents are welcome to come and see for themselves that this is indeed the case," he said. The Russian defence ministry said Ukraine is refraining from setting a date for the next round of prisoner exchanges. "The Russian side has provided the Ukrainian side with a list of 640 names, but the Ukrainian side is currently refraining from setting a date for the return of these individuals and the transfer of the corresponding number of Russian prisoners of war," Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin said in a statement. Representatives from Ukraine and Russia met for around an hour on Monday in Istanbul, for only the second such round of negotiations since March 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the meeting as "great" and said he hoped the next meeting would include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump. Both sides agreed to exchange more prisoners of war and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. However there was no breakthrough on a proposed ceasefire that Ukraine, its European allies and Washington have all urged Russia to accept. The Kremlin said the process of reaching a settlement that would end the war in Ukraine was extraordinarily complex, and it would be wrong to expect any imminent decisions. Kyiv said Mr Putin is not interested in peace, but proposed holding more talks before the end of June. Mr Zelenskyy has also a proposed ceasefire until a meeting can be arranged with the Russian president. "My proposal, which I believe our partners can support, is that we agree a ceasefire with the Russians until the leaders meet," Mr Zelenskyy said. "At this time, people will understand that the nations, Europe, Ukraine and the whole world have a chance to end the war." Reuters
Reuters
3 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia says Ukraine postpones prisoner exchange, accepting bodies
June 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine has unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday. Russia and Ukraine held the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday where they agreed to exchange more prisoners - focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded - and to return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. "In strict accordance with the Istanbul agreements, on June 6, Russia began a humanitarian operation to hand over to Ukraine more than 6,000 bodies of killed Ukrainian servicemen, as well as to exchange wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war and prisoners of war under the age of 25," Medinsky said on Telegram. He said that 1,212 bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers were in refrigerated containers at the exchange point. Russia has also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as "wounded, seriously ill and young people," in order to begin the exchange, Medinsky added. "The Russian Defence Ministry's contact group is on the border with Ukraine," he said, adding that Ukrainian negotiators were not at the exchange location. Ukrainian officials responsible for the exchanges did not respond to a request for comment. Medinsky urged Ukraine to strictly adhere to the schedule and the agreements, and to immediately proceed with the exchange. "We are on site. We are fully prepared to work. International TV channels, news agencies and correspondents are welcome to come and see for themselves that this is indeed the case," he said.
