Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those aged under-25 that had been captured, with both sides saying the exchange was set for this weekend.
The POW swap – to involve more than 1,000 people on each side – along with an agreement to hand over the bodies of thousands of killed soldiers was the only concrete outcome of a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
Russia has rejected Ukraine’s calls for an unconditional ceasefire, drawing accusations Moscow has no desire to halt its three-year invasion.
“The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,” Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media. Medinsky said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the “exchange area” – the first of 6,000 to be handed over.
Moscow had also sent a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first stage. The exchange was set to be the largest of the war, topping last month’s 1,000-for-1,000 swap that was agreed at a first round of talks in Istanbul.”We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately,” Medinsky said.Kyiv did not immediately respond to the accusation.
After the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday. The accusation came hours after Russia launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine, heavily targeting the city of Kharkiv.
At least eight people were killed in the overnight barrage and frontline shelling in total, officials said.
