Russia is trying to discredit Ukraine on the prisoner exchange issue - ISW.

The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russia is actively conducting disinformation operations against the Ukrainian authorities in order to undermine citizens' trust in the government. Russia is also trying to create an image of Ukraine as a country that refuses to negotiate the exchange of prisoners of war.

The Institute noted that on November 27, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russia was ready to exchange 630 Ukrainian prisoners of war in a format of 'one for one'. Accordingly, on December 2, Russian ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova published a list of these individuals and claimed that Ukraine refused the exchange.

Brigadier General Dmytro Usov refuted these statements. He noted that Russia had not submitted any official requests for exchanges. The general also pointed out that among the published names were both civilians and prisoners of war who had already been released by Ukraine. Usov emphasized that Moscow is likely trying to discredit Ukrainian state authorities.

'One of the Russian sources stated that the statements of Zakharova and Moskalkova on November 29 and December 3 are an attempt to present a false narrative to Ukraine's Western partners and allies that the Ukrainian leadership is unwilling to negotiate, while falsely portraying Russia as the party interested in negotiations,' the report noted.

Analysts believe that such actions by Russia are aimed at distracting attention from its efforts to disrupt the process of exchanging prisoners of war and from the ongoing human rights violations in Russia, including the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Analysts emphasize that it was previously Russia that refused to exchange prisoners of war, dismissing Ukrainian proposals even before the advance of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region in August 2024.