It's time to go home: Russia is seeking the return of Kuryans held in Ukraine
In the near future, Moscow and Kiev will deal with the return of residents of the Kursk region who are still in Ukraine, Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova told Izvestia after a meeting with Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets. Up to 15 civilians who were captured at the time of the Ukrainian Armed Forces invasion of the border areas are waiting to return to Russia. However, despite the development of humanitarian contacts, Kiev is still not committed to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Zelensky's proposal to meet with the Russian leader is just a game for the public in the face of European sponsors and Washington, experts believe.
The return of residents of the Kursk region
The settlement of the Ukrainian conflict is on pause, but the discussion of humanitarian issues has not been suspended. In particular, Russia and Ukraine will again deal with the issue of the return of residents of the Kursk region, the new Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Yana Lantratova, told Izvestia after the first meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Lubinets.
— We talked, and I raised the issue of the need to return the residents of the Kursk region, which is still located on the territory of Ukraine, as soon as possible. And we will definitely be doing this in the near future," the Ombudsman said.
According to preliminary data, there may be 15 more people in Ukraine, the Russian side is clarifying this figure. With the participation of the previous Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, Tatiana Moskalkova, more than 160 Kuryans were returned from the territory of Ukraine.
One of the outcomes of the meeting between the two Ombudsmen was cooperation in a new area: the parties agreed to exchange the necessary documents to receive payments from citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
"If, for example, a fighter has died in a certain country, then payments are made to the family of this fighter. But if he has relatives, for example, parents who have already died in another country, but due to the lack of diplomatic relations with the countries, it is not possible to obtain an appropriate certificate, which leaves the family without this part of the payments. And indeed, there was no such channel of interaction, there was no such communication channel," Lantratova told Izvestia.
The meeting of the Ombudsmen took place on June 5 at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. On the same day, another exchange of fighters under the 185-185 formula took place through the mediation of the UAE. The Russian servicemen returned from Ukrainian captivity are now in the territory of Belarus. Back in late May, the head of the Second CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexei Polishchuk, said that the parties maintain correspondence on legal and consular issues through Belarus.
Lantratova and Lubinets also handed over lists for new exchanges and agreed to visit the prisoners of war to check their conditions of detention and deliver parcels from their relatives.
— And when I flew back with our guys, whom we managed to return, a lot of them told me about the letters. Not only from relatives, but also from children from different regions of Russia, who write to our fighters that they are waiting for them, that they believe they will be home soon. And it's like a breath of air for them. Many of them said that this is probably what gives them the most strength to withstand this difficult ordeal," Yana Lantratova shared the details with Izvestia.
There were situational interactions on humanitarian issues throughout the conflict, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, recalled. But the positive news on them does not mean any intensification of the political settlement.
—We saw another example just a few days ago — a 'sort of' proposal from Ukraine for dialogue, which, in essence, was rather a provocation aimed at blocking such a dialogue," he told Izvestia.
What about the political settlement of the conflict
On June 4, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky invited Vladimir Putin to hold a meeting in a third country. On the same days, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a package of support for Ukraine and sanctions against the Russian Federation. At the same time, just a week before this proposal, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck Starobilsk, resulting in the death of 21 people, including teenagers. Another blow hit the Zaporizhia NPP — a hole was formed in its engine room due to a drone strike. Such circumstances are unlikely to contribute to a constructive dialogue.
— I don't see the point in dating. It only makes sense for the Ukrainian side to stop the offensive of our armed forces. That's all. And we need agreements not for six months, not for three months, but for a long historical perspective. — Vladimir Putin said in response at the SPIEF plenary session.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the plenary session of the XXIX St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
When Kiev launches terrorist attacks on peaceful cities, when the infrastructure of the EU and NATO countries is purposefully used because they allow drones through their territory, when the import of mercenaries and arms supplies continues, all this indicates that Ukraine itself does not make any decisions, said Natalia Yeremina, professor at St. Petersburg State University.
"But Zelensky personally is just interested in staying in power, because this ensures that he continues at least the political cycle, and at most even the life cycle," she says.
Moreover, the EU countries openly make it clear that they are interested in fighting to the last Ukrainian. On June 5, Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell said that the interior ministers of the Union countries support the proposal to exclude Ukrainian men of military age (from 23 to 60 years old) from the temporary protection scheme for refugees, so that they are likely to go to the front instead of living, working and studying in the EU. Over 4 million people have been through this program since 2022. It expires in March 2027, but a proposal to extend it is already being prepared.
Therefore, all the "talk about negotiations" and the search for a mediator from Brussels turn out to be nothing more than political rhetoric from the West and Ukraine, Yeremina summed up.
Kiev's approach will change when financial support is lost there, that is, when the government in the EU countries changes, the expert emphasizes. The new authorities in Ukraine will also add momentum, although the elections that were supposed to begin two years ago after Zelensky's presidential term expired have not been held. This is what Vladimir Putin drew attention to during his speech at the SPIEF.
Thus, two parallel and independent lines have developed in the Ukrainian settlement: direct negotiations to discuss a potential peace agreement and humanitarian contacts. The latter can no longer serve as an indicator of any progress in the settlement or a "thaw". Nevertheless, the continuation of exchanges and coordination in support of separated families allows us to speak at least about the "manageability" of the current conflict.
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