Kiev's refusal to accept 1,000 captured Ukrainian soldiers within the framework of the agreed exchange is a “monstrous story and complete immorality“. This was stated by the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, quoted by TASS, reports Focus.
“The Kiev regime refuses to accept 1,000 captured fighters from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which is why the second stage of the exchange of prisoners of war is blocked, and the third cannot yet begin. This is a terrifying story. "Not just double standards, but complete immorality," Zakharova stressed.
She added that, according to Russian sources, many Ukrainian prisoners of war said that from the very beginning of their service they had been waiting for an opportunity to surrender to Russian forces in order to avoid death in the trenches or participation in "suicide missions" under the command of "cowardly Ukrainian officers."
Earlier, the assistant to the Russian president and head of the Russian delegation in the negotiations with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinsky, reported that it was Kiev's refusal to accept the prisoners that led to difficulties in carrying out the second phase of the exchange and blocked the start of the third.