Ukraine rejects Russia's accusations of delaying the exchange of soldiers' remains and demands it to return to constructive work.

Ukrainian officials denied today, Saturday, what Russia claimed about Ukraine delaying the exchange of soldiers' remains, and demanded Moscow to stop "using dirty methods" and return to constructive work. Vladimir Medinsky, an assistant to the Russian president, stated on Saturday that Ukraine unexpectedly postponed the prisoner exchange process and receiving soldiers' remains indefinitely. Russia and Ukraine held the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, agreeing to exchange more prisoners focusing on the youngest, seriously injured, and return the remains of 12,000 soldiers. The Ukrainian War Prisoners Exchange Coordination Center stated via Telegram that "the Russian side's statements today do not align with reality or previous agreements regarding prisoner exchange or remains return." They indicated that an agreement has already been reached on the remains return, but a date has not been set, and that "the Russian side has resorted to unilateral actions that were not agreed upon within the process." Medinsky mentioned that Russia has also handed Ukraine the first list containing 640 prisoners classified as "seriously injured, ill, and young" to initiate the exchange process. In turn, Ukraine announced that they have also provided the names of prisoners to be exchanged, while Russia's lists did not follow the agreed-upon approach regarding the priority prisoners in the exchange process.