Ukraine Embassy Highlights Prisoner Exchange with Russia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The acting charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Jakarta, Yevheniia Shynkarenko, revealed that her country has a great concern for the prisoner exchange with Russia. She demanded that Russia take the prisoner exchange seriously amidst its invasion of Ukraine.

"We very much welcome the results of the negotiations because this is about the exchange of prisoners of war," Shynkarenko said during a press conference at Rumah Kartanegara No. 4, South Jakarta, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Shynkarenko stated that for Ukraine, every prisoner of war is a valuable individual. She also expressed her country's commitment to bring back Ukrainian children taken by Russia.

Furthermore, Shynkarenko regretted that up to now, peace achievement efforts have not been carried out optimally because the negotiation discussions are still within the realm of prisoner exchange.

"This process currently only revolves around the exchange of prisoners of war and not about the peace process itself," she said.

Shynkarenko disclosed that over the past two weeks, there have been large-scale attacks almost every night in Ukrainian cities.

"All that was destroyed are residential buildings, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, civil infrastructure, and railway tracks," she said.

In relation to this, Shynkarenko called on the Indonesian government to help push for peace in Ukraine. "And we believe that Indonesia is a reliable international player, a strong player," she said.

"We constantly ask Indonesia to speak up on this case, to help us put pressure on the Russian Federation to stop this war," she added.

Ukraine and Russia have reached an agreement to carry out the largest prisoner and corpse exchange since the war began in February 2022. As reported by Aljazeera, officials from both sides confirmed this after peaceful negotiations held by Turkey in Istanbul on Monday.

The agreement was concluded during the second round of talks at the Ciragan Palace, Istanbul, where Turkey's mediation efforts brought both parties together.

"We agreed to carry out an 'all for all' exchange of severely injured and seriously ill prisoners of war. The second category is young soldiers aged 18 to 25," said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in a press conference.

"We also agreed to return 6,000-for-6,000 corpses of fallen soldiers," he added. Umerov emphasized that although the agreement focused on certain categories rather than a specific number, its humanitarian aspect is clear.

Umerov reaffirmed Kyiv's broader demands, "We urge the release of all prisoners and the return of all detainees and our abducted children."

Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, also confirmed the agreement.

Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Medinsky said Moscow and Kyiv agreed on the largest-ever prisoner exchange -- an 'all for all' format that includes severely injured and seriously ill soldiers aged 18 to 25.

"We have agreed on the largest-scale prisoner exchange based on the following provisions - first, all severely injured and seriously ill soldiers will be exchanged on the principle of 'all for all.' Second, young soldiers up to 25 years of age will also be exchanged with the same 'all for all' provisions," he said.

The total number of people for the exchange will be at least 1,000 from each side, Medinsky said, noting that the number may be larger as the figures are currently being verified.

He added that Moscow will return the corpses of 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Medinsky also informed that Russia proposed Ukraine to announce a two to three-day cease-fire in some parts of the front line to collect the corpses of fallen soldiers.

"We have proposed a two to three-day cease-fire in some parts of the front line. This will allow commanders to retrieve the bodies of their fallen soldiers," he said.

Sita Planasari contributed to the writing of this article.

Editor's Choice: Ukraine-Russia Talks Result in Largest Prisoner Exchange Deal, Ceasefire Still Uncertain

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