The first group of Russian prisoners of war under the age of 25 returned to Russia as part of an exchange with Ukraine, reported the Russian Ministry of Defense. The agency did not specify how many soldiers were in the first group, noting that the same number of Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners were exchanged.
The start of the exchange was also confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who published photos of the first Ukrainians returning home. According to him, several more stages of the exchange will take place in the coming days. However, he also did not disclose the exchange numbers.
'The process is quite complex, with many sensitive details, and negotiations continue almost daily. We expect that the agreements on humanitarian issues reached during the meeting in Istanbul will be fully implemented,' he wrote on his Telegram channel.
At the end of last week, the exchange was in question, as Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of disrupting the planned repatriation of the bodies of deceased soldiers and the 'all for all' exchange agreements.
The head of the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, Vladimir Medinsky, stated that on June 6, Russia 'began the implementation of a humanitarian action', but Ukraine 'unexpectedly postponed indefinitely both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners'. Also, according to him, Moscow handed over to Kyiv the first list of 640 seriously ill, wounded, and young prisoners.
The Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War responded that Ukraine had prepared and sent lists of prisoners for exchange, but Russia provided lists that did not match the agreements. They also stated that a specific date for repatriation was never set, and the Russian side 'undertook unilateral actions that were not agreed upon'.
Photo: TG Volodymyr Zelensky