- Category
- Latest news
Russia Delays Ukrainian POW List Transfers, Providing Incomplete Data Months Late
Ukraine’s Commissioner for Missing Persons Artur Dobroserdov said Russia transfers lists of detained Ukrainian citizens to the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency only four to six months after capture—and often omits names—hindering prisoner exchanges and obscuring the fate of thousands of missing servicemen, UKRINFORM reported on June 13.
Russia’s failure to provide timely and complete rosters complicates the work of Ukraine’s Missing Persons Commission. “Documents arrive only after a four- to six-month delay, and even then they are partial,” Dobroserdov warned, citing ICRC tracing data.
Moscow’s partial disclosures have stalled the coordination of humanitarian missions and discouraged families awaiting news of loved ones. Without comprehensive manifests, Ukrainian authorities must rely on ad hoc consultations to identify captives—a process Dobroserdov says risks leaving many unaccounted for.
President Zelenskyy previously noted that, despite the Istanbul agreement on a 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap, “Ukraine has still not received any lists of those held by Russia,” leaving Kyiv unable to prepare for scheduled transfers of 500 detainees over consecutive weekends.
Earlier, the bodies of over 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers were repatriated under the Istanbul agreement. On June 13, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, alongside forensic experts from the Interior Ministry, received the remains and began identification, providing families with official notification and support services—and marking the largest single return of wartime casualties since the deal’s enactment.
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
