Ukraine Refuses to Take Own PoWs as It Considers Them ‘Expendable’ — Expert
10:55 GMT 13.08.2026 (Updated: 12:58 GMT 13.08.2026)
© AP Photo / LIBKOS
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Ukraine is refusing to accept the return of its own POWs, operating on the assumption that these individuals are ultimately not worth reclaiming, political analyst Vladimir Skachko said.
"Care for people was never a strong point of the neoNazi regime. For it, they have always been ‘cannon fodder’," he said.
Ukrainian PoWs kept in Russia tell the truth about the condition of their lives — they were well fed, kept in warm rooms and treated medically, he added.
On August 13, Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova published a list of 273 Ukrainian soldiers whom Russia is ready to return as part of an exchange. The oldest prisoner was born in 1966, Sputnik has learned from the released documents.
Previously the list of 224 people has already been agreed upon, but Ukraine refuses to take them, she explains, adding that most of them have been in Russia since 2022.
