President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia is preparing provocations related to an upcoming prisoner exchange, as negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow continue.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Zelensky said that National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov is holding talks with Vladimir Medinsky, aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to finalize the next exchange lists.
“The negotiations over the lists are difficult,” Zelensky said, according to Ukrinform.
“Our intelligence data show what the Russians are trying to do – they want to fill the lists only with those they choose, ignoring our requests. We also know they plan to take some Ukrainian prisoners to Belarus and force them to record video appeals to their families, pretending that Ukraine is not retrieving them – saying, ‘We’re in Belarus, come get us.’ Such Russian provocations are being prepared.”
Zelensky categorized these actions as another attempt to pressure Ukraine.
“But we are doing everything to ensure that all previous agreements on exchanges are fulfilled. There are several stages of exchanges planned, and we are working to bring all our people home,” he said.
The warning comes a week after the latest large-scale prisoner swap on Oct. 2, when 185 Ukrainian soldiers and 20 civilians returned home from Russian captivity. Kyiv Post was present at the exchange site in northern Ukraine, documenting the emotional reunions between families and soldiers freed after years in captivity.
Watch the full Kyiv Post report from the Oct. 2 exchange Tears and Joy at POW Swap: “I’ll Hug and Kiss Him” here.