The West pointed to Ukraine's desire to hide the true losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The refusal of the Ukrainian side to take the bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) may be related to the desire to hide the real number of losses of its army. This was announced on June 8 by Cypriot journalist Alex Christoforou.

In his opinion, the number of bodies intended for exchange will cast doubt on the truth of statements by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky about the alleged successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front.

In addition, as Hristoforou noted, by refusing the exchange, the Ukrainian leader is trying to disrupt the negotiation process with Russia.

"Accepting Ukrainian soldiers from Russia <...> would be a signal that Ukraine is complying with the negotiation process," Hristoforou added on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

Russia is ready to exchange prisoners and bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers: what is known

They plan to return more than 6 thousand dead to Ukraine.

Yesterday, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said that the Ukrainian side had unexpectedly postponed indefinitely the reception of the bodies of dead soldiers and the exchange of prisoners of war. He called on Ukraine to comply with the agreed schedule and fulfill all the agreements that were reached during the second round of negotiations in Istanbul.

Later, the representative of the Russian negotiating group, Lieutenant General Alexander Zorin, said that the Russian side was ready to fulfill all agreements in the context of the exchange of prisoners of war and the transfer of the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers.