Russian troops do not always agree to exchange bodies of those killed in action

The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War explains that the exchanges of bodies after the battle is not systematic because the Russians do not always agree to them.

Source: Coordination Headquarters on Telegram; Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, quoted by Defence Intelligence’s press service

Details: This has been discussed at the meeting with families of captured servicemen of the Armed Forces from Berehynia, i.e., All-Ukrainian public movement of mothers and relatives of ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation - ed.] participants.

The parties discussed the recovery of the bodies of the fallen Ukrainian soldiers from Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.

Quote from Ivan Anhelin, Advisor to the Commissioner for Missing Persons under Special Circumstances: "Sometimes body exchanges are carried out by commanders after the battle, when there is an agreement with the enemy on a ceasefire. Such exchanges are not systematic because Russians do not always agree to them.

The Commissioner's Office is currently unable to search for the dead in this area of the contact line, as the fiercest fighting continues there. The Russian side also refuses to respond to requests for a ceasefire for the search. However, exchanges of the dead occur on a regular basis in other areas."

Details: The relatives of the soldiers have also been interested in why certain prisoners of war (PoWs) are marked as "presumably captured" in the register of the National Information Bureau (NIB), even though their photos or videos have been received from places of detention in the Russian Federation or in the temporarily occupied territory.

The representative of the headquarters stressed that the official confirmation comes only from the International Committee of the Red Cross. However, as practice shows, confirmation does not mean that the person will be brought home in the near future. At the same time, Ukraine submits for exchange all those on the NIB register. 

In turn, the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Andrii Yusov, said that in the process of prisoner exchange, the Russians divide people into "sorts", and this demonstrates the essence of their fascist regime.

The lowest "sort", according to Yusov, is forcibly conscripted people from the temporarily occupied territories.

"As for the rest, an extremely difficult process begins. It is clear that officers are in high demand. As well as people who have certain knowledge and skills. Many other things are also influencing, which we will not mention in order not to cause harm. But the more ordinary a person is for Ruscists, the less interest they have in him," Yusov noted.

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