Kremlin refuses to release list of freed prisoners despite explicit promise to do so

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov has refused to respond to questions about exactly which individuals the Ukrainian government released to Russia as part of a September 7 prisoner exchange.

When journalists reminded Peskov that he himself had promised that a full list would be released, he responded, “I won’t respond to that question. I have no comment.” The official representative for Vladimir Putin also refused to respond to questions about whether Ukrainian political prisoners released to Moscow would be permitted to receive Russian citizenship.

Peskov added that Putin did not greet the released prisoners at the airport when they arrived in Moscow, saying, “The head of government did his part by making sure the exchange could take place.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a list of the prisoners transferred from Russia to Ukraine immediately after the exchange. While a list of those released to Russia was published on the news site Ukrainskaya Pravda, it has not been officially confirmed.