Russia Affirms Readiness to Begin Prisoner Swap with Ukraine on June 7-9

Russia is ready to start exchanging prisoners of war with Ukraine between June 7 and 9, according to Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky.

"We assume that there will probably be 1,200 people on each side, and this will again be the largest exchange of prisoners of war. We are ready to begin on June 7, 8, and 9. We, for our part, are fully prepared for this," he said at President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with government members, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

Medinsky noted that the final parity figure is being agreed upon and that the priority categories for exchange will be "the wounded, the seriously ill, and prisoners of war under the age of 25."

On May 25, in accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached in Istanbul on May 16, the final stage of the prisoner exchange took place according to the 1,000-for-1,000 formula. Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Colonel-General Alexander Fomin, has said the agreements reached in Istanbul regarding the exchange were fully implemented.