Ukraine and Russia seem set for POW swap after days of accusations

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was ready to honor agreements with Ukraine on a new exchange of prisoners of war and the repatriation of dead soldiers, but accused Kyiv of failing to keep to its side of the bargain.

Ukraine said on Sunday the planned exchange of captured soldiers would start "next week."

The two countries on June 2 agreed to a fresh exchange of POWs and agreed to take back the bodies of killed soldiers. The weekend, though, involved both accusing each other of trying to thwart and delay the swap.

Moscow on Saturday accused Ukraine of not turning up to collect the bodies and not agreeing a date to swap the captured soldiers, while Kyiv said Russia was playing "dirty games" by not sticking to the agreed parameters for the exchange.

"The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war," Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media.

A defense ministry spokesman said "the Ukrainian side is still refraining from setting a date" for the first stage of the prisoner swap.

'Dirty games'

The exchange is set to be the largest of the conflict, topping last month's 1,000-for-1,000 swap agreed at a first round of talks in Istanbul.

After those talks in Türkiye, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

Responding to Russia's accusations, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been agreed for the return of bodies.

It also said a list of names Russia said would be released did not match the terms of the agreement.

"Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations," it said in a statement.

"We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days."

The spat came as Russia launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine, heavily targeting the city of Kharkiv on Saturday.

Zelenskyy urged Kyiv's Western backers to heap more "pressure" on Russia, with at least 10 people killed in the barrage.

On the battlefield, Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces had reached Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region and continued their advance there. It also said their troops had captured the village of Zoria in Ukraine's Donetsk region.