MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ukraine has been refusing to take back hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers for over a year now, having so far agreed to only accept 279 prisoners out of the 935 proposed by Russia for an exchange, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on Saturday.
«For more than a year, Ukraine has not agreed to accept military personnel from the 102nd, 126th and 118the separate brigades. Of the 935 Ukrainian soldiers proposed for exchange, they have agreed to take back only 279,» Moskalkova wrote on Telegram.
The Russian ombudswoman added that she had repeatedly urged Kiev to speed up the exchange procedures, but the process was slow and bulky due to its overpolitization by Ukraine.
Prisoner exchanges are important from the humanitarian point of view, Moskalkova said, calling on her Ukrainian counterparts to return to a constructive dialogue to ensure that families on both sides of the front line see their loved ones as soon as possible.
