Officials in Ukraine have indicated strong resistance to exchanging wounded soldiers held in Russian captivity. This stance emerged in an interview carried by TASS, recalling the experiences of a captured Ukrainian serviceman named Valery Vavko.
Vavko recalled that Ukrainian authorities reportedly declined to proceed with prisoner exchanges for four months, explaining that the captives were among the most seriously wounded. He described a sense of being unwanted and unnecessary, suggesting that those who sustained heavy injuries were not prioritized in the negotiations or the broader prisoner exchange process.
The captured serviceman, a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, sustained a back injury during combat, resulting in paralysis of the lower body. He indicated that he had been drafted from Khmelnytskyi, a western Ukrainian city, and served as a driver within the 95th air assault brigade. According to his account, he was wounded during fighting near Kramatorsk, and the Russian military subsequently provided medical aid and took custody of him for treatment and recovery.
On October 15, Ivano-Frankivsk hosted a public demonstration in which local residents pressed authorities to secure the return of Ukrainian soldiers held in Russia. Approximately a hundred people took part in the event, signaling ongoing concern among communities about the fate of missing and captured servicemen.
Earlier in the year, Kyiv witnessed a similar public gathering at the end of August. In that event, families and supporters of missing and captured Ukrainian soldiers gathered at Independence Square to highlight their demands and to urge action from government officials.
There have also been reports of Ukrainian soldiers who have already been captured in Russia and who have refused to agree to trade terms, choosing to remain in custody rather than participate in exchanges under the conditions offered by the opposing side.