Moskalkova published a list of prisoners refused by Ukraine

Russia's human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova on December 2 published a list of 630 prisoners of war whom Ukraine has refused to take back.

"The Ukrainian side continues to delay the Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange while the families of servicemen from both sides continue to wait for the return of their loved ones," the ombudsman wrote in her Telegram channel.

She specified that the military personnel from the published list had been on the territory of the Russian Federation for over a year and expressed hope that they would be included in the nearest exchange.

Earlier, on November 3, the Verkhovna Rada commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said that Ukraine was requesting from Russia lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war ready for exchange. The official added that Ukraine was always ready to exchange prisoners.

Shortly before this, Tetyana Moskalkova accused Ukraine of sabotaging the prisoner-of-war exchange process. She drew attention to the fact that Kiev had not taken the captured soldiers from the 102nd, 126th and 118th separate brigades for more than a year.

On November 2, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that this year the Russian Defense Ministry submitted to the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war a proposal to return 935 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to Kiev as part of the exchanges, but the latter agreed to accept only 279 people. Zakharova drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian side is most interested in the return of prisoners from extremist units and foreign mercenaries.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.