Russia is forcing Ukrainian prisoners to call their relatives and make them protest against the government
Soldiers who have not heard from their relatives for over a year tell their families that Russia is ready to exchange them, but Kyiv allegedly refuses
Ukrainians who have been taken prisoner by Russia have begun calling their relatives in Ukraine en masse to protest against the government in Kyiv.
Source. A representative of the Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, Petro Yatsenko, told Politico.
According to him, the soldiers, whom their relatives have not heard from for more than a year, tell their families that Russia is ready to exchange them, but Kyiv refuses to do so.
For example, a soldier who was captured on February 24, 2022, called his wife on November 29 this year via Viber video. He did not allow her to ask questions, saying, "Valya, go and make life difficult for Kyiv. Kyiv does not want to take us back." After that, he apologized and ended the conversation, promising to call back later "if he ever gets the chance."
"Recently, these calls have become massive. We realized that this is a campaign aimed at causing distrust in the government," Yatsenko said.
Ukraine and Russia have stopped exchanging prisoners and have not conducted them since August 7. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attributed this to "reasons on the part of the Russian Federation," but promised that the exchange would resume soon, without giving a specific time frame.
According to Politico, the only opportunity for the prisoners to return home was through informal exchanges of commanders on the battlefield. But, as Yatsenko notes, they cannot replace a full-fledged exchange between the states.
Russia may use the refusal to exchange prisoners of war to stir up tensions in Ukrainian society, where dissatisfaction with Zelenskyy is growing after a failed counteroffensive this year and the mood is growing gloomy over problems with US and EU aid, Politico concludes.
Background. As it became known, the occupiers shot three Ukrainian prisoners of war near Zaporizhzhia, and the prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into this fact.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
