Ukraine is holding very difficult negotiations regarding the evacuation of the severely injured fighters from the "Azovstal" plant in exchange for the captured russians, the Deputy Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk says.
According to her, the negotiations are ongoing regarding 38 severely wounded defenders.
"We're working step by step. We'll swap 38 of the most severe ones [severely injured – tr.] then we'll move forward. There are no talks now about 500 or 600 people swapping as some media report," – the Deputy Minister emphasized.
She mentioned that "the public comments made by some politicians, journalists, and public figures on the negotiations' content not only misinform and disorient society but are harmful to the negotiating process".
"I ask you. It’s about people’s lives. Please refrain from public comments on what you don’t know. If it all works out and we get the people out, you can do whatever you want afterward. But now I ask you to be responsible and keep out of the way,” – Vereshchuk highlighted.
Vereshchuk has previously reported that it's impossible to unblock the "Azovstal" plant by military means, so the invaders were offered a swap "under standard rules". That means that Ukraine evacuates severely injured defenders by a humanitarian corridor, giving russia in return the captured russians under the standard rules of prisoners of war swap.
Today, the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev said that Turkey's President Recep Erdoğan had addressed Putin calling on him to allow the evacuation of the "Azovstal" defenders to Turkey through the Berdyansk seaport. But the russian federation refused.