 Russia uses prisoners as political weapon against Ukraine. Russia is increasing pressure on Ukrainians and involves prisoners of war in this. Moscow uses prisoners as a political weapon according to Politico. Ukrainian military personnel in Russian captivity have started calling for their relatives. At the same time, they say that supposedly Russia is ready for exchanges, but Ukraine refuses. Recently, these calls become massive. So we understand that this is a campaign to cause distrust in the government, said Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the coordination headquarters on the treatment of prisoners of war in a comment to the agency. The wife of a Chernobyl defender who ended up in captivity at the beginning of the invasion, Valentina Kachenko, said that she also received a call from her husband. Before that, she received a short note with the words, I am alive, everything is okay, only once. According to her, her husband got in touch on November 29, 2023, calling her on Vyber. The captured Ukrainian soldier said, Valya, go make things hard for Kiev. Kiev does not want to take us back, and then apologized and ended the conversation. The woman did not go out in protest because she believed that her husband had become an instrument of the Kremlin's political game against Ukraine. According to officially confirmed data, Russia holds 300 defenders and 28,000 civilians captive. According to Yatsenko, Ukraine has recently increased the exchange fund and is ready to accept all occupiers prepared to surrender. Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has returned almost 2,600 military and civilians from Russian captivity. It is worth noting that the latest exchange occurred on August 7, when 22 soldiers were returned home. Russia has frozen the exchange of prisoners with Ukraine, and negotiations on their resumption are ongoing.