Great prisoner exchange: 1000 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine!

Great prisoner exchange: 1000 prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine!

In the current situation of the Ukraine War, discussions about the exchange of prisoners of war took place in Istanbul. These negotiations, which lasted a little more than an hour, bring initial results. An exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war was announced as a concrete result of the first round of negotiations in May. Wladimir Medinskij, head of the Russian delegation, also explained that regular exchanges of seriously ill and seriously wounded prisoners should take place in the future. Medical commissions are to be set up for these exchange campaigns, while the exchange of all prisoners up to 25 years is also planned. Both sides have agreed to hand over at least 1000 people, possibly even up to 1200, such as the FAZ reported.

The Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umjerow confirmed the topics of the talks, but did not provide any details. In addition, Andrij Jermak, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, handed over a list with several hundred Ukrainian children, which were deported to Russia as a result of the war. Medinskij said to the media that it was not "kidnapped" children, but children who were "saved" by Russian soldiers. Umjerow pointed out that no agreement was reached via a ceasefire, but an agreement for the exchange of the corpse of 6,000 fallen. Medinskij spoke of a "one -sided handover" of frozen corpses of 6000 Ukrainian soldiers.

The latest prisoner exchange

On Wednesday, almost 500 Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war returned home, which is considered the greatest prisoner exchange since the Russian invasion of the Russian invasion. Of the released prisoners are 230 Ukrainians and 248 Russians, mostly military members. Many of the prisoners come from Mariupol and from the snake island, some were even in custody for almost two years. Reports and pictures show soldiers wrapped in the national flags of their countries of origin, with some of them have already been discriminated. According to a report by the UN, captivity in Russia is characterized by torture and the humanitarian situation is extremely worrying, such as the NZZ determined.

The 49th exchange since spring 2022 has been held after a month -long interruption of the exchange talks, with both sides blamed for the delays. Ukrainian President Wolodimir Selenski emphasizes that there were no breaks in the negotiations. Confidence -building measures, such as visits to prisoners and the distribution of warm clothing, have contributed to success in the negotiations. The United Arab Emirates played a central role as an intermediary because they entertain both good relationships with Kiev, Moscow and the USA.

public reactions and future prospects

The fate of the prisoners of war deeply touches the public in both countries. In Kiev there are regular rallies of family members who demand more efforts to release their loved ones. In Russia, the attitude towards captured soldiers is ambivalent; The propaganda tends to represent captivity negatively. Politically, it could be advantageous for Moscow due to the situation of many Ukrainian prisoners of war who are registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

experts estimate that there are currently more Ukrainian prisoners in Russian institutions than the other way around. Kyiv speaks of a total of 4,000 people. Despite the challenges, the Ukrainian side is optimistic about a further exchange in the coming weeks, which could indicate a continued positive development within the negotiations, just in view of the fact that the negotiations in Istanbul now seem to show progress.