Ukraine's military intelligence spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, disputed Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims on the numbers of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war (POW) in a comment for the Liga outlet on June 6.
Putin claimed during a meeting with the world's leading news agencies on June 5 that there are around 1,348 Russians in Ukrainian captivity and 6,465 Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity.
These numbers do not correspond to reality, especially when it comes to the number of Russian POWs, Yusov told Liga but said that Ukraine would not disclose the real figure.
"Ukraine adheres to its principles, and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs does not name specific figures," the spokesperson noted. Yusov added that Putin's claims were part of Russian propaganda.
Ukrainian authorities said last November that 2,384 soldiers and civilians remained in Russian captivity. Several prisoner exchanges have taken place since then, most recently on May 31, when 71 Ukrainian service members and four civilians were released.
President Volodymyr Zelensky named a possible all-for-all POW exchange as one of the ideas to be discussed during the upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland in June.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
