OR Ukraine announced today (08.06.2025) that the exchange of captives and bodies of soldiers with Russia It will take place “next week”, after Moscow and Kiev exchanged charges of delaying the process.
Russia has accused Ukraine of postponing a large -scale exchange of captive soldiers, hours after the Moscow army launched a barrage of rockets, drones and bombs across the country. Kiev and Moscow have agreed to release all the injured soldiers and those who were captured under 25, with both sides reporting that the exchange was set for this weekend.
“The launch of repatriation operations, according to the results of the Istanbul talks, is foreseen for next week (…) everything will be unfolded as planned,” said Ukrainian Army Intelligence Services, Krilo Budanov, accusing Moscow.
The exchange of prisoners of war – in which more than 1,000 people will participate in each side – along with an agreement on the surrender of thousands of dead soldiers was the only result of a second round of peace talks in Constantinople on Monday.
Russia also said that it is moving on to the eastern industrial area of ​​DniePropetrovsk in Ukraine for the first time in its three -year attack – a significant territorial escalation amid a deadlock in the peace talks.
Moscow, which has the initiative on the battlefield, has repeatedly denied the calls of Ukraine, Europe and US President Donald Trump for full and unconditional ceasefire.
In the June 2nd talks in Istanbul, he demanded that Kiev withdraw the troops from the forefront, to agree to end any western weapon support and to abandon his ambitions to join the NATO military alliance.
DniePropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions for which Russia has officially claimed territorial rights. It is an important mining and industrial center for Ukraine and the deeper Russian advance in the region could have a serious impact on the struggling army and the Kiev economy.