Kiev insists on unacceptable terms for exchange of Kursk Region residents

 Kiev continues to insist on unacceptable conditions for Moscow for the exchange of 12 residents of the Kursk Region held in Sumy, said Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova.

According to her, Kiev sets "the conditions that the Russian side cannot fulfill." Moskalkova said that according to the Geneva Convention, the Kursk Region residents should be returned to their homeland "without any conditions." Kiev wants to exchange the detained Kursk Region residents for "the civilians who are under investigation in Russia, [those who were] charged with committing an offense or a crime against Russia."

"That's why this dialogue has been going on for such a long time, for nine months now," she told Russian journalists after a meeting with head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric.

Moskalkova explained that the residents of the Kursk Region remain hostages of Ukraine, which prohibits them from leaving their temporary accommodations.

"They have neither the documents nor the money to do this," she said. According to her, the ICRC fulfills its obligations to visit and assist the detained Kursk Region residents, but the conditions of their detention prompted Russia to put this issue on the agenda during the meeting with the ICRC.

Earlier, the ICRC's said that Spolyarich had met with Moskalkova and her Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Lubinets. According to these reports, the discussions focused on meeting the needs of the prisoners of war, civilians deprived of their liberty, and missing persons.

In August 2024, as a result of Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk Region and the escalation of hostilities, some local residents were forcibly removed to the city of Sumy. More than 100 Kursk Region residents returned home through Belarus with Moskalkova’s assistance.[TASS]