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Zelenskyy Details Prisoner Swap Proposal and Russia’s Admission of Abducted Children
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![Photo of Liubava Petriv]( "Photo of Liubava Petriv")
After a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul on June 2, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared updates on the negotiations, including discussions on prisoner exchanges, the return of fallen soldiers, and the issue of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had proposed a large-scale prisoner swap.
“There will be an exchange of our military. There will be a ‘thousand for a thousand.’ There may also be an additional ‘200 for 200’,” he said. He emphasized that this initiative came from the Ukrainian side: “Our delegation raised the issue of additional military personnel, as well as political prisoners and journalists.”
One of the significant points discussed was Russia’s proposal to return the remains of Ukrainian soldiers. According to Zelenskyy, “Russia offered to hand over six thousand bodies of Ukrainian servicemen.”
He stressed the need for thorough verification: “This issue needs to be examined very carefully. As we’ve learned, only 15% of these bodies have been identified.” He continued, “It’s crucial to verify everything. We must recover all of our people.”
Zelenskyy also recalled past concerns about identification errors: “There was already a case when they handed over their own soldiers instead of ours.”
On the issue of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, Ukraine submitted a list of 400 names for potential return. “We provided a list of 400 children. They proposed working on the return of about 10,” Zelenskyy said, noting the list had previously been handed to the Vatican. During the talks, Ukrainian representatives told their Russian counterparts, “You took 20,000.” In response, the Russian side reportedly said, “At most, it’s a matter of hundreds.”
Notably, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian side’s response amounted to a significant admission that children had been taken—an extremely important fact amid ongoing international scrutiny of the alleged abductions.
As Zelenskyy stated, “It is important to record the fact that they confirmed they had taken children.”
Earlier, Russia’s lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky reportedly dismissed Ukraine’s call to return deported children with a mocking remark, saying, “Don’t put on a show for bleeding-heart European old ladies.”
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
