The prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia planned for January 24 is one of the largest during the crackdown.
The exchange of prisoners from the Russian Federation, which was planned for January 24 and did not happen due to the downing of the Russian Il-76, was supposed to be one of the largest in the history of a large-scale war. This is what the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andrey Yusov said in a telethon on Friday, January 26.
“We will not give an exact number (of prisoners of war to be exchanged – edit.). And before the exchange, until it happens, such things are not done. But it turned out to be one of the biggest exchanges in the history of a massive war. And in general, we can say that it should be an anniversary event – 50th, but, unfortunately, it did not happen,” he said.
Regarding the “lists of prisoners of war in Ukraine” published by Russian propagandists after the crash of the Il-76 plane, Yusov noted that the information is being studied, and communication is also taking place with families of prisoners.
The representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate noted that the “list” was distributed by propagandists, and not by official Russian representations, such as the Ministry of Defense, special services, and humanitarian headquarters. Therefore, responding to this list would mean participating in Russian propaganda. Yusov emphasized that official comments will be made after the lists are officially reported.
We remind you that on January 24, an Il-76 military plane crashed in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that there were alleged Ukrainian prisoners on the plane being transported for exchange. At the same time, the Ukrainian media said that the Il-76 was carrying missiles to the S-300 complexes.
Later, the Main Intelligence Directorate confirmed that a prisoner exchange was supposed to take place on January 24, but it never happened. The Russians published a “list” of 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were said to have died during the crash. However, the data of at least 17 people from the published list correspond to the data of 17 Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters who were exchanged on January 3.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence, military-political VIPs of the Russian Federation were supposed to be on board the Il-76, but at the moment the FSB forbade them to board.
Source: korrespondent
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