News Feed

Ukraine calls on Moscow to provide list of POWs ready for swap

2 min read
Ukraine calls on Moscow to provide list of POWs ready for swap
Activists and relatives of Ukrainian POWs hold up banners and urge for the return of Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity during the rally organized in the neighborhood of Lukianivska on June 9, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by hurricanehank/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Kyiv urged Moscow on Nov. 3 to provide a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) prepared for an exchange, following Russia’s accusation that Ukraine was obstructing the process.

Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reached out to his Russian counterpart: "We are always ready to exchange prisoners of war!" he wrote on his official Telegram channel.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Nov. 2 accused Ukraine of effectively sabotaging the exchange process and refusing to accept its own citizens. Zakharova claimed that Russia’s defense ministry had offered to release 935 Ukrainian prisoners of war, but Ukraine had accepted only 279.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both countries have frequently exchanged prisoners. The most recent swap occurred in mid-October, with each side bringin back 95 prisoners.

Lubinets countered that Ukraine remains willing to receive its citizens and blamed Russia for slowing down the exchanges. Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova also commented on Nov. 2 alleging that Ukraine has "politicized" the matter.

On Oct. 18, Lubinets said that Russian forces have executed at least 102 Ukrainian prisoners of war since 2022, citing data from the Prosecutor General's Office. Lubinets said that Ukrainian authorities document the cases as much as possible and pass the evidence to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.

There have been multiple reports of executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian soldiers over this year. Videos and photos resurfaced on social media with evidence of the crimes, including drone footage showing the shooting of the POWs as they surrendered to Russian troops, as well as videos and photos with bodies of Ukrainian soldiers suggesting torture and violent death in captivity.

Russia has summarily executed at least 93 Ukrainian POWs on battlefield, top prosecutor says
Yurii Belousov, the head of the department focused on war-related crimes, explained that 80% of these cases were recorded in 2024, but the trend appeared already late last year.
Article image

Avatar
Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

Read more
News Feed
 (Updated:  )

Ukrainians on July 25 participated in mass protests against a controversial new law impacting anti-corruption agencies for the fourth day in a row. President Zelensky earlier addressed criticism of the law, saying there should have been a dialogue between parliament and society before its adoption.

Show More