When the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in the frozen cars arrived at the exchange site, when the list of 1,200 prisoners from both sides had been confirmed, Kiev was "suspiciously silent". That was a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry on June 7, showing that a humanitarian deal that was once considered a new breakthrough was frozen.
"Russia has transferred to Ukraine the list of 640 prisoners, but they have not yet set a date for the exchange," Russian Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, who negotiated in Istanbul, said.
According to Mr. Zorin, not only prisoners, but also the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers were taken to the transit point from June 6. A convoy carrying 1,212 bodies is ready, and 4 other convoys - each convoy has about 1,200 bodies - waiting for departure orders. A total of more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers are waiting to be repatriated.
The agreement between the two sides originally included exchanging prisoners who were injured, seriously ill and under 25 years old in the form of "everything in exchange for everything", and returning the bodies of the deceased soldiers, each side about 6,000 people.
However, Russia believes that Ukraine is delaying unreasonably. Even, according to Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, the Ukrainian delegation did not go to the meeting place and gave very strange reasons.
We are ready to implement all the terms in Istanbul. But Kiev has not yet responded officially, Zorin stressed.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has denied the allegations from Russia. Ukraine's Armed Forces Agency said: "Instead of constructive dialogue, Russia continues to manipulate and use humanitarian issues as a propaganda tool."
They also said that the teams are still working last week to prepare for the exchange, which has been postponed until next week.
Commenting on the reports, Russian Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin said Moscow was "waiting for an official announcement from Kiev". Meanwhile, the fallen soldiers have not been able to return home.
