Russian Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said on Monday that she discussed “the issue of urgent unblocking of war prisoner exchanges” during a meeting with Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights.
Moskalkova said on Telegram no prisoner swaps have occurred for over four months.
"During the meeting with the ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, raised the issue of urgent unblocking of prisoner exchanges in principle, as there have been none for over four months," she said.
Moskalkova did not specify where or when the meeting took place. However, both Moskalkova and Lubinets said on Friday on their Telegram channels that they were in Geneva, where the International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric held separate talks with both officials at the organisation’s headquarters.
Moskalkova asserted that the Russian defence ministry “repeatedly proposed various formats for the exchange process, but the Ukrainian side delays adoption of relevant decisions.”
“Mothers and wives have been anxiously waiting for their loved ones. Their swift return home would be an act of humanity and compassion,” she said.
The ombudswoman added that she provided her Ukrainian counterpart with a list of Ukrainian servicemen held in Russia who could be released soon as part of an exchange.
“Awaiting proposals from the Ukrainian side,” Moskalkova said, adding that she also raised the need to repatriate wounded Russian prisoners of war in line with the Geneva Convention.
The last prisoner exchange, when 185 people were returned from each side, took place in October.
Agreements on prisoner swaps were reached during Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul.
The sides held three rounds of negotiations resulting in agreements on a “1,000 for 1,000” exchange, plans for another large-scale swap, the mutual handover of fallen soldiers’ remains, and a deal to return at least 1,200 prisoners from each side.
