Fighters of the National Guard of Ukraine who surrendered to the people's militia of the LPR. File photoLUHANSK, April 30The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Lugansk People's Republic, Victoria Serdyukova, said that the republic is ready for dialogue with the Ukrainian side on the exchange of military personnel. .I want to once again appeal to the military-political leadership of Ukraine, if they are interested in returning their citizens home, then we are ready and open for dialogue in this direction,» the statement on the ombudsman's website reads. 
More than 3,000 captured Ukrainian soldiers are in the DPR According to Serdyukova, the issue of exchange is being worked out in every possible way by the LPR, «however, at the moment there is no information confirming the readiness of the Ukrainian side for constructive work in this direction.» According to her, «the authorities of Ukraine do not make contact and, moreover, are not interested in returning their servicemen.» Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
