The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova reacted sharply to the criticism of the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha, who expressed dissatisfaction with the congratulations to Russia on the occasion of Russia Day. She advised Sibikha to be upset not by foreign congratulations, but by the bodies of Ukrainians that Kiev refuses to accept, TASS reports, quoted by News.bg.
“A normal person would say that it is “particularly unpleasant“ to see how the owner of the refrigerators with the bodies of Ukrainians forbids them to be taken away for a dignified burial. But no - someone else's joy causes greater upset than your own grief. Gogol, of course, was a genius - he described everything“, Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.
We recall that on Thursday, Ukraine and Russia held a new exchange of prisoners of war, during which seriously wounded and sick servicemen were released, officials from both sides reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the news on Telegram, specifying that all Ukrainian servicemen returned from captivity need treatment, without specifying the exact number.
This exchange is part of a broader agreement between Kiev and Moscow, reached during talks in Istanbul earlier this month. The agreement provides for the exchange not only of prisoners of war, but also of the bodies of thousands of dead soldiers.
Since the beginning of June, Ukraine and Russia have been carrying out a series of exchanges, focusing on young soldiers under the age of 25, as well as seriously wounded and sick ones. The hope is that these exchanges will become some of the largest since the start of the war in 2022.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Ukraine announced that it had managed to return the bodies of 1,212 of its fallen soldiers. According to the Kremlin, Kiev has handed over the bodies of 27 Russian servicemen.
Moscow had earlier accused Kiev of deliberately delaying the receipt of the bodies of its soldiers, citing compensation owed to the families.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated the Russian people on the national holiday - Russia Day, which is celebrated on June 12. In a statement released by the State Department, Rubio stressed the US commitment to supporting the aspirations of the Russian people for a better future and expressed hope for lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin assessed the congratulations as positive news that shows a commitment to dialogue despite the ongoing differences between the countries, quoted by “Interfax“.
For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha said that it was “particularly unpleasant“ for him to read public congratulations to Russia from some countries, without specifically specifying which ones they were. He stressed that he had the moral right to express this position.