Kremlin confirms Pause in POW exchanges with Ukraine, talks remain ongoing

Prisoner-of-war exchanges between Russia and Ukraine are currently on hold, although there remains the possibility of resuming them.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the pause on September 17, noting that discussions on the matter are ongoing, according to Russian media.

“Talks on this matter are ongoing, but for now, as you can see, there is also a certain pause here. At the same time, this does not mean that these exchanges cannot be continued,” he said in response to questions about the status of prisoner swaps and the transfer of bodies.

Recent humanitarian efforts have seen the repatriation of the bodies of 1,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Ukraine reported on August 19. Among them were the remains of five Ukrainian servicemen who had died in captivity. These soldiers had previously been listed as “seriously wounded and seriously ill” prisoners scheduled for exchange under agreements reached during the second round of talks in Istanbul.

The Ukrainian headquarters added that law enforcement investigators, in coordination with expert institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will conduct all necessary examinations to identify the repatriated remains.

This transfer follows a prisoner swap on August 14, in which both Russia and Ukraine released 84 individuals each. The Russian Defence Ministry noted that the United Arab Emirates helped mediate that exchange on humanitarian grounds.

The framework for these exchanges was established in early June, when Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul. The agreement prioritised the return of seriously wounded soldiers, prisoners aged 18 to 25, and the repatriation of fallen soldiers’ remains. The first exchanges under this framework took place on June 9, followed by another round on July 4.

In addition, Russian officials noted that mid-June saw the launch of so-called “indefinite sanitary exchanges,” allowing the transfer of wounded soldiers without preconditions, although details of these arrangements were not publicly disclosed.

By Tamilla Hasanova