Now about what happened next

Press Release, 16.03.2022

Photo: Cars of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine. Photo by Sergei Averin / RIA Novosti

On 2 March, Grigory Yavlinsky put forward a proposal that the Yabloko party should be provided the opportunity to organise a humanitarian corridor for the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead between Ukraine and Russia. The Yabloko party had such experience during the first Chechen war. The next day, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov formally addressed this proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova, International Red Cross President Peter Maurer, head of the Russian Red Cross Pavel Savchuk, and WHO Representative in Russia Melita Vujnovic.

Two weeks later, only the Russian Red Cross sent an answer running that the organisation does not deal with such issues.

From the Russian side, only Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova commented in the media on the topic of the exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead, and from the Ukrainian side, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk and Public Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova.

Here goes what open Russian sources write about the exchange:

4 March. Russian Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova told journalists that she had not yet been able to agree with Ukrainian Ombudsperson Lyudmila Denisova on a visit to the prisoners of war with.

6 March. Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine Oleksandr Vlasenko told journalists that the issue of the transfer of the bodies of dead Russian soldiers to their homeland “is being discussed by the parties at the top level”. The leaders of the International Red Cross in Geneva are involved in this. But for the moment he could not give any specific information.

9 March. Anatoly Golov, a member of the Yabloko Federal Bureau, launched a petition on the change.org website demanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately begin an exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead with Ukraine on the principle “all for all”. The first signatures under the petition were put, in particular, by famous persons – film director Alexander Sokurov and musician Yury Shevchuk.

13 March. According to TASS, the government of Ukraine created a coordinating headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. The headquarters included representatives of relevant ministries, law enforcement agencies and an adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine.

14 March. According to TASS, Public Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova announced that an exchange of prisoners with Russia should take place soon (https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/14065905).

15 March. Russia expresses its concern about the attitude in Ukraine towards the captured Russian military, appealed to the UN and the OSCE, the press service of Russian Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova reported. The Ombudsperson said that work was underway with representatives of the Red Cross.

As Moskalkova noted, she was ready to participate in any format for the return of the Russian military home. “Unfortunately, the Ombudsperson of Ukraine Lyudmila Denisova stepped aside from the human rights dialogue and the subsequent steps. In such processes, the exchange model is always discussed till the last. They can be different: one for one, all for all, a group for a group, wounded for wounded,” the Ombudsperson said.

15 March. A petition initiated by Yabloko for the exchange “all for all” gathered more than 40,000 signatures in a week.

16 March. President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer arrived in Kyiv. “I am here to speak with the public and the authorities so that the ICRC can expand its access and neutral and impartial humanitarian work,” RIA Novosti quoted Peter Maurer (https://ria.ru/20220316/ukraina-1778421277.html).

16 March. Based on the results of contacts with the Russian Red Cross, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent proposals to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the Yabloko party participation in the humanitarian mission.

We will go on to closely monitor and report on the developments in this area.