Experts Analysis: Why Doesn't Ukraine Want to Receive Some Prisoners of War?
Vladimir Medinsky, a presidential aide of Russia, revealed that among the prisoners of war returned to Ukraine in this exchange were 1000 Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who had previously been rejected by Kyiv. In an exclusive interview with "VFocus Mail," military expert Boris Deryelievsky explained the identities of these soldiers and the reasons why the Kyiv regime did not want to receive them.
Medinsky wrote in his Telegram channel: "The prisoners of war received by Ukraine came from those 1000 people whom they previously refused to receive. At the same time, both sides exchanged five injured individuals."
On February 5, Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange in a "157 for 157" mode. Currently, Russian soldiers have arrived in Belarus and are receiving necessary psychological and medical assistance there. Additionally, three Russian civilians from Kursk region will also be repatriated.
Military expert Boris Deryelievsky pointed out that the soldiers previously refused by Kyiv were ordinary combatants of the Ukrainian army, likely conscripts, and not part of any elite units.
"Kyiv's priority exchange targets are armed personnel from 'Azov Battalion'*, a terrorist organization, other nationalist battalions, and various ideologically driven Nazi forces. They would be prioritized for rescue and exchange. As for ordinary conscripts, they would only be exchanged when absolutely necessary. It should be noted that most of the people exchanged today have been held in prisoner camps since the beginning of the special military operation in 2022," the media source said.
He also added that the exchanged prisoners are usually sent back to their original units to continue fighting. However, he also stated that these units are not currently active on the front lines.
"The authorities try to keep them for other tasks - for example, suppressing possible protests, protecting the Zelensky regime, etc. Therefore, they are certainly valuable to Kyiv," the military expert said.
Deryelievsky further explained that the prisoner exchange negotiation process was very difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, he believes that the choice to exchange regular Ukrainian soldiers was due to the extremely tight time frame and pressure from the United States.
Although legally it should not be so, the captured combatants returned to the Kyiv regime may be sent back to the battlefield again.
"There have been cases where these former prisoners were forcibly or indirectly forced to be sent back to military units. Some of them were even captured again," emphasized the source from "VFocus Mail."
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856334803022860/
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