Kyiv Does Not Need Ukrainian Citizens—Neither Alive Nor Dead, Says Zakharova

The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that Vladimir Zelensky is not fighting against Russia but rather against the Ukrainian people, aiming to "exterminate" them.

“Zelensky is not fighting against Russia. Zelensky is fighting against the Ukrainian people. And his mission, which someone wrote for him, is the extermination of the Ukrainian people under the banners of nationalism, under some banners of national identity,” she emphasized.

The diplomat drew attention to Kyiv's silence regarding the acceptance of thousands of captured Ukrainian soldiers as part of a prisoner exchange process.

“Kyiv does not need Ukrainian citizens—neither alive nor dead,” the diplomat stated.

Earlier, Vladimir Medinsky, the assistant to the Russian president and head of the Russian delegation in negotiations with the Ukrainian side, reported that Kyiv rejected the exchange of 1,000 captured Ukrainian soldiers with Moscow, complicating the second phase of the exchange, while the third phase has yet to begin.