“The Russians have halted the process”: Zelensky explains what is happening with the prisoner exchange
31 January 12:08
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia isn’t interested in swapping people because it doesn’t see any benefit in it.
The head of state said this during a conversation with journalists, commenting on the issue of exchanges, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“The Russians have stopped the process. They are not very interested in exchanging people because they do not feel that it gives them anything. They believe that it gives us something. But I think they should also think about their people, their military,” Zelensky said.
As is known, despite the blocking of the exchange of living people, the process of repatriating bodies continues. On January 29, 2026, the next stage took place:
Ukraine returned the bodies of 1,000 of its defenders. The remains of their soldiers were handed over to the Russian side. This technical process is coordinated at the level of the special services and allows families to at least say goodbye to the heroes with dignity.
