Moscow: Russia has accused Ukraine of indefinitely delaying a scheduled exchange of prisoners of war and fallen soldiers’ remains, claiming that over 1,200 bodies of Ukrainian troops have been left uncollected at a designated handover point. The Kremlin says the operation is part of a wider agreement reached during recent peace negotiations in Istanbul.
According to Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, the remains of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers were placed in refrigerated containers at the border site on Friday, ready for transfer. Medinsky said Russia was prepared to proceed with the handover and had even invited international media to witness the process.
He added that Moscow had shared a list of 640 Ukrainian prisoners of war — comprising the seriously wounded, ill, and young — as part of a broader deal agreed during the Istanbul talks, which also included the repatriation of 12,000 bodies, split equally between both sides.
But Ukraine has flatly denied the Russian claims. Andriy Kovalenko, a senior official at Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, said no date had been fixed for the exchange and accused Moscow of acting unilaterally and misleading the public.
“The statements made today by the Russian side do not reflect reality or the agreements reached regarding prisoners or bodies,” Kovalenko said on Telegram. “Russia has once again chosen to play propaganda games rather than follow through with constructive steps.”
Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed that it had also submitted a list of 640 Russian POWs it is prepared to release in the first phase of the swap. However, officials said Moscow’s list failed to align with agreed criteria on prioritizing the exchange of the most vulnerable.
The dispute follows a renewed attempt at diplomacy between Kyiv and Moscow. On Monday, negotiators met in Istanbul for only the second time since March 2022. Though no progress was made on a ceasefire, both parties committed to further prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of 12,000 fallen soldiers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who hosted the talks, praised the session and expressed hope that future negotiations would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Despite the limited progress, the Kremlin signaled that a comprehensive peace deal remains a distant goal, warning that expectations should be tempered.
Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy has proposed a temporary ceasefire ahead of a potential summit with President Putin. He called on international partners to support the idea, saying a truce would show the world that diplomacy still offers a path to ending the war.
“This is a chance — for Ukraine, for Europe, for the entire world — to finally stop the fighting,” Zelenskyy said.
