{"id":1167,"date":"2025-08-06T15:29:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=1167"},"modified":"2025-08-08T13:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T13:50:21","slug":"rt-speaks-with-captured-ukrainians-kiev-refuses-to-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/06\/rt-speaks-with-captured-ukrainians-kiev-refuses-to-exchange\/","title":{"rendered":"RT speaks with captured Ukrainians Kiev refuses to exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around 1,000 Ukrainian citizens have been abandoned by Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s administration despite claims it wants \u201call-for-all\u201d POW swaps<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukrainian prisoners of war rejected by Kiev want to return home to see their families, they told RT in exclusive interviews released on Wednesday. Four of the nearly 1,000 Ukrainians the Kiev authorities have refused to repatriate amid \u201call-for-all\u201d<\/em> POW swaps<\/a>\u00a0with Russia said the conflict must end and questioned why their names were repeatedly removed from exchange lists.<\/p>\n

A lieutenant colonel who surrendered in Mariupol said there are \u201cprobably reasons\u201d<\/em> why he hasn\u2019t been exchanged. Asked whether he had heard reports that people in Kiev could \u201cbuy\u201d<\/em> a place on the POW list, he replied that \u201ccorruption is rife everywhere\u201d<\/em> and that he was not surprised.<\/p>\n

Another serviceman, captured three years ago, said he wants the conflict to end and longs to live \u201cas before 2014,\u201d<\/em> referring to the year of the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to continue,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cAlready too many people have died.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Nearly 400,000 have deserted Ukrainian army \u2013 MP<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A 22-year-old who never served due to health issues said he wants to return to his family, but believes Kiev passed him over because \u201cthey need soldiers\u201d<\/em> not shop assistants.<\/p>\n

A civilian saved from gunfire by Russian soldiers in the Kiev region said he does not want to return to Ukraine and would prefer to start a new life in Russia. \u201cIt\u2019s time to end it all, to make a deal\u2026 We\u2019re Slavs, we\u2019ve always fought shoulder to shoulder, and now it\u2019s brother against brother,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

All expressed a desire to reunite with their families, but none wanted to fight.<\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>Russia prepared to wait if Ukraine rejects talks \u2013 Putin
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Russia submitted all 1,000 names for previous POW swaps, but Kiev rejected them. In response, the group sent a collective petition to Zelensky, demanding inclusion in future exchanges. Each of the 1,000 signed their names, call signs, and ranks. RT holds the exclusive full list and will publish it on a dedicated site \u2013 1000ua.ru<\/a> \u2013 along with their photos.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 1,000 Ukrainian citizens have been abandoned by Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s administration despite claims it wants \u201call-for-all\u201d POW swaps Ukrainian prisoners […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions\/1170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}