Russia conducts PSYOPS on prisoner exchange — ISW

Russia is trying to discredit Ukraine by accusing it of refusing to exchange prisoners of war. However, Russia's statements are manipulation aimed at undermining Ukrainians' trust in the government.

This was reported by analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on Tuesday, December 3.

Russia conducts PSYOPS on the exchange of prisoners of war

Russia is actively conducting information operations regarding prisoner exchanges to discredit Ukraine and undermine citizens' trust in their government. The Russian Federation is trying to portray Ukraine as a state allegedly refusing to negotiate prisoner exchanges.

Last week, on November 27, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russia is ready to exchange 630 Ukrainian prisoners of war in a "one-for-one" format.

Later, on December 2, Russian Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova published a purported list of these individuals and claimed that Ukraine had declined the exchange after Russia's proposal.

However, these claims were refuted the following day in Ukraine. Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, stated that the Russian side had not submitted any official requests for an exchange.

He added that the list of names published by Russia included civilians and prisoners of war who had already been returned home by Ukraine. Usov emphasized that Russian officials publicly claiming that Ukraine is obstructing prisoner exchanges are attempting to discredit the Ukrainian government.

"One Russian insider source noted that the statements by Zakharova on November 29 and Moskalkova on December 3 about Russia's supposed willingness to conduct a large-scale prisoner exchange are an attempt to present a false narrative to Ukraine's Western partners and allies. This narrative falsely portrays Ukraine's leadership as unwilling to negotiate while depicting Russia as the side genuinely interested in talks," the report said.

ISW analysts believe that such actions by Russia are likely aimed at diverting attention from the Kremlin's efforts to undermine the prisoner exchange process and from ongoing reports of human rights violations in Russia, including the executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"It is Russia, not Ukraine, that has previously demonstrated an unwillingness to conduct prisoner exchanges, as Russia rejected Ukrainian exchange proposals several months before the Ukrainian forces' offensive in the Kursk region began in August 2024," the analysts noted

As a reminder, another Free Azov action took place in Odesa, during which the citizens reminded about Ukrainian heroes who are in Russian captivity. 

Earlier, we wrote that the exact location of the filtration camp in Belarus, where Ukrainian prisoners were tortured, was revealed. The camp was organized on the territory of the state enterprise.