Shift in Kremlin priorities as Russia initiates first prisoner exchange talks
For the first time since the outset of the full-scale war, Russia has initiated prisoner exchange negotiations, said Ivan Tymochko, Chairman of the Council of Reservists of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) on a national news broadcast.
Tymochko noted that the final and overall plans of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) operation in the Kursk region remain unclear, making it difficult to evaluate its outcomes. The specifics regarding the number and nature of captured personnel are also not clearly understood. However, Tymochko emphasized that it was Russia that proposed the prisoner exchange.
"And it is understandable why—because of the entirely different composition of the prisoners," he explained.
He pointed out that Russia's actions are the first significant outcome of the AFU's breakthrough.
"We don't have a precise and realistic picture regarding the spoils—we don't know the real number of captured prisoners or their qualitative and quantitative composition. But what we do see and hear is that for the first time in the third year of the war, Russia has itself requested prisoner exchange negotiations," he said.
Tymochko remarked that Russia has shifted from plans to change Ukraine's leadership and fully occupy the country to efforts aimed at preventing the establishment of Ukrainian military command posts on its territories. He predicted that Russia will attempt to heavily censor information about the situation in the Kursk region and downplay AFU's achievements.
Lithuania’s Ministry of Defense called the AFU's operation in the Kursk region as a "clear humiliation" for Vladimir Putin.