The large-scale exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine in the format of "1000 for 1000", agreed on May 16 in Istanbul, will not be able to be carried out within one day due to technical difficulties and will be distributed over several stages, Russian Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliyev, who is responsible for the exchange of prisoners, told RBC.
"Such a large-scale process cannot be carried out within one day. It will be necessary to divide it into several days," Saraliyev specified, emphasizing that all parties are interested in the process being implemented as quickly as possible.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described the exchange as "quite laborious", since it concerns specific people and specific lists. According to him, "the work on coordinating the names continues".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had held a special meeting to prepare for the exchange and confirmed that this was "hardly the only real result of the meeting in Turkey". He added that Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is responsible for the organization and implementation of the agreement.
"We are working to ensure that this result will be implemented," Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram channel. He stressed that he had received reports of contacts with the Russian side and that all efforts were aimed at the release of 1,000 Ukrainian citizens from Russian captivity.
This is one of the largest prisoner exchange agreements since the beginning of the war. Although no dates have yet been announced for the start of the actual exchange, the phased implementation of the "1,000 for 1,000" formula is seen as a potential breakthrough in the stalled dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, with possible humanitarian and political repercussions.