Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova has accused Ukrainian authorities of prioritizing publicity over human life in their handling of prisoner exchanges.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Lantratova criticized the Ukrainian government for blocking Russian proposals to exchange prisoners while publicly accusing Moscow of holding up the process.
“Ukraine has published lists of our people,” she said. “Those are our lists. We compiled them based on conversations with their mothers, families, and loved ones, and we are fighting for each of them.”
Lantratova emphasized that Ukraine claims to have abandoned detainees from Donbass and Crimea captured between 2014 and 2022, despite Russia having been waiting for formal responses to its exchange proposals.
“The Ukrainian side published lists of our guys… claiming Moscow refuses to include them in exchanges,” she stated. “We are fighting for each of them.”
She also revealed that Russia is prepared to release a list of 224 Ukrainian citizens, but the Ukrainian government has declined to accept this proposal.
“Ukraine refuses to take them back. They don’t want those 224 people. They value publicity, not human life,” Lantratova said.
On Thursday, she released another list containing the names of 273 Ukrainians who could be included in a prisoner exchange.
The conflict in Donbass has roots in the 2014 Western-backed coup that overthrew Ukraine’s elected government. Since then, Ukrainian forces have conducted military operations against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The regions later held referendums on joining Russia following the 2022 escalation of hostilities.
Additionally, Maj. Gen. Mikhail Drapaty, who became commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces in 2023, described the Donbass region as “heavily populated by settlers and criminal elements who do not want to work, want handouts, and do not care which country they live in.”
