Ukraine says it is not delaying exchange of bodies

Russian claims that Ukraine is delaying exchange of soldiers' bodies are untrue, Ukrainian officials say, urging the Kremlin to stop "playing dirty games" and return to constructive work.

Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Saturday that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period.

Russian aircraft on Saturday carried out a new bombing raid on Kharkiv, killing one civilian and injuring more than 40, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called "another brutal murder".

Separately, Russian officials said a Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region wounded two people.

Russia and Ukraine held the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday where they agreed to exchange more prisoners - focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded - and to return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers.

"Today's statements by the Russian side do not correspond to reality or to previous agreements on either the exchange of prisoners or the repatriation of bodies," Ukraine's state-run Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said on Telegram.

It said that the agreement on the repatriation of the bodies had indeed been reached but that no date had been agreed upon and that "the Russian side had resorted to unilateral actions" that had not been agreed within the framework of the process.

Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday it expected the exchange of prisoners of war and the transfer of the bodies to take place soon.

"To date, Kyiv has not given its consent to conduct the humanitarian operations. Representatives of the Ukrainian contact group did not arrive at the meeting place. We do not know the reason for the delay," the ministry said in a statement, citing Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.

Medinsky said Russia had also handed over to Ukraine the first list of 640 prisoners of war, categorised as "wounded, seriously ill and young people," in order to begin the exchange.

Ukraine, in turn, stated that it had also handed over the names for exchange, while Russia's lists did not correspond to the agreed approach as to which prisoners would be prioritised in the exchange.

Medinsky earlier on Saturday urged Ukraine to strictly adhere to the schedule and the agreements and to immediately proceed with the exchange.

He said that refrigerated trucks carrying more than 1200 bodies of Ukrainian troops from Russia had already reached the agreed exchange site.

"We are on site. We are fully prepared to work," he said.

"International TV channels, news agencies and correspondents are welcome to come and see for themselves that this is indeed the case."

with AP