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Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect comments made by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine has denied Russian claims that it had delayed a planned exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) and the bodies of fallen soldiers, reportedly scheduled for June 7-8.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to conduct a major swap, which would include severely injured prisoners and young people aged 18 to 25, during their second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2.
After the talks, Russia also pledged to transfer 6,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and officers to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that preparations for exchanging the bodies would begin after the POW swap.
On June 7, however, Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in peace talks, claimed that the contact group of the Russian Defense Ministry was reportedly stationed at the border with Ukraine, but the Ukrainian side "unexpectedly postponed both the transfer of bodies and the POW exchange indefinitely."
Ukraine's Defense Ministry dismissed the claim as false, saying it was an attempt by Russia to avoid returning Ukrainian POWs from captivity and take their POWs back to Russia.
"Unfortunately, the Ukrainian side is once again facing attempts to retroactively revise agreements. If the Russian side is now backing away from what was promised in Istanbul, it raises serious questions about the reliability and capability of their negotiating team," the ministry wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs also refuted Russia's claim, saying that "instead of constructive dialogue, Ukraine once again faced manipulations and attempts to exploit sensitive humanitarian issues for information purposes."
In his evening address on June 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "as always, in its spirit, (Russia) is trying to play some kind of dirty political and information game with these issues," adding that Kyiv has not received a full list from Moscow of the POWs planned to be exchanged
According to the headquarters, Ukraine submitted lists of POWs "formed according to clearly defined categories agreed upon during the negotiations in Istanbul," while the Russian side "provided different lists that do not correspond to the agreed approach."
The headquarters also added that an agreement on the repatriation of bodies of fallen soldiers was made, but the date was not set.
"Instead of consistently implementing the agreed procedure, the Russian side took unilateral actions that were not coordinated within the joint process," the statement reads.
"Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are once again faced with manipulations and attempts to exploit sensitive humanitarian issues for information purposes. We remain committed to a real outcome — the return of our prisoners and the bodies of the fallen — and are ready to continue working within the agreed framework."
The latest direct Russia-Ukraine talks, hosted by Turkish officials, followed the first round of negotiations on May 16. The initial meeting ended with an agreement on the largest prisoner exchange of the war, but without any tangible progress toward a peace deal.
Ukraine has returned over 5,000 prisoners via exchanges with Russia since March 2022, according to officials. Kyiv has repeatedly pressed Moscow to agree to an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange, but Russia has rejected the proposal.
Daria Shulzhenko
