Russia suspended POW swaps in attempt to influence Ukrainian society – Coordination HQ

Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said this in an interview with Suspilne, Ukrinform reports.

According to him, it makes no sense for Ukraine to keep Russian prisoners. Russia, for its part, suspended prisoner swaps, thus trying to influence Ukrainian society.

"They are trying to convince everyone that, look, nothing is happening. But in reality, the work is going on, we are not sitting idly by, we are constantly working to organize further swaps," Yatsenko said.

According to him, Ukraine is ready for dialogue and puts forward certain proposals to the Russians.

"We demonstrate our proposals. For example, we created the Coordination Headquarters together with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Ukrainian authorities created so-called mixed medical commissions - this is an instrument provided for in the Third Geneva Convention. This commission includes two representatives of a neutral country and one representative of the detaining power, that is, Ukraine. A similar commission should be formed by the Russian side so that these commissions, visiting places of detention, could identify prisoners of war who need medical care and who should be repatriated," he said.

According to Yatsenko, the Ukrainian side emphasizes that Russia must also fulfill its international agreements and arrangements that they have signed.

"They constantly claim at the diplomatic level, for example, at the UN, that they comply with everything. We show that, in fact, nothing is happening," he said.

Prisoner exchanges have been suspended since August 2023.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in October that Ukraine had returned 2,598 service members and civilians.

Photo: Oleksandr Sova / Suspilne