Russia consistently delays prisoner swaps, even for seriously wounded
Russia is delaying the exchange of seriously wounded prisoners of war, although their repatriation should be unconditional according to the Geneva Convention, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in an interview with NV on Jan. 17.
Kyiv has offered an all-for-all swap multiple times, but Moscow has provided inconsistent numbers of POWs each time.
Read also: Russian POWs thank Ukrainians for humane treatment during recent exchange – video
Ukraine has proposed “the creation of mixed medical commissions, which will include one representative from Ukraine, one from Russia, and one from international medical experts,” said Lubinets.
These commissions would verify compliance with the Geneva Conventions and would verify which prisoners meet the definition of “seriously wounded.”
“This is useful, because [the Russians] want to get yours back, right? We want that too: we have set up medical commissions, we have announced it publicly, we have informed the International Committee of the Red Cross, we have done everything."
However, the Russians did not respond to the Ukrainian initiative.
"I always emphasize that [the Russian] slogan 'we don't abandon our own' is only for propaganda purposes,” the ombudsman said.
“If they didn't give up their own, they would have taken their own long ago.”
Read also: Russia releases mostly convicts in prisoner exchange — video
Lubinets further stated that Ukraine strives to return all of its citizens.
In a recent prisoner exchange with Ukraine, the Kremlin regime primarily sought to repatriate criminals recruited from Russian prisons, according to a video posted to the YouTube channel Byt Ili on Jan. 8.
In the Jan. 3 exchange, which involved 230 Ukrainian defenders and 248 Russian invaders, it was revealed that 180 of the Russians were former convicts.
It has been suggested that the Russian authorities release former convicts because it is easier to keep them quiet.
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