“They [the Russians] don’t care about their soldiers,” Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, told The Irish Times. “They don’t take corpses from the battlefield. We have so many corpses of Russian soldiers. They are kept in freezers. We are waiting for Russia to take them. They don’t get them because, according to their legislation, the family of each dead soldier receives seven million Russian rubles. When the soldier is missing, no body means no money.” President Vladimir Putin told the Russian Security Council in March that families of soldiers killed in Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine would receive a lump sum of 7.421 million rubles (121,000 euros) plus monthly compensation, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko: “If they treat their own soldiers this way, how will they treat people in the occupied territories? There is no way they can respect this population, because what they are doing to their own is unacceptable and unthinkable.’ Photo: Courtesy of the Ministry The treatment of Russian soldiers should be a “red flag” for Ukrainians who may be tempted to accept Russian occupation, Nikolenko said. “If they treat their own soldiers this way, how would they treat people in the occupied territories? There is no way they can respect this population, because what they are doing to their own people is unacceptable and unthinkable.” Nikolenko said Russia lost nearly 40,000 soldiers in five months of war. The US estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached about 15,000 dead and perhaps 45,000 wounded, according to the CIA. Russia classifies military deaths as state secrets even in times of peace and has often not updated its official wartime casualty figures. Ukraine does not disclose casualties for its own soldiers or civilians, although President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week that about 30 soldiers were killed and 250 wounded daily, a dramatic drop from a peak of 200 daily deaths in May and June. Officials credit the arrival of advanced weapons systems, such as US Himars rocket launchers, which have allowed Ukraine to destroy Russian munitions stockpiles, for reducing casualties. Experts say a reduction in the intensity of fighting may also be an explanation. [ Himars: What are the advanced rockets the US is sending Ukraine? ] US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on July 13 that between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children – some without their parents – have been forcibly taken to Russia. Deporting civilians from occupied territories is a war crime. Ukraine closed its diplomatic missions in Russia in early March and asked NGOs in Russia, and the Ukrainian missions in Finland, Georgia and Poland, to help the expelled Ukrainians. Oleg Nikolenko: “The official position is that Ukraine is interested in negotiations, because every war ends with a negotiated solution. But, so far, we don’t see any willingness from Russia to negotiate in good faith.’ Photo: Courtesy of the Ministry Some Ukrainians go to Russia because they are not allowed to cross into government-controlled territory and hope to get from Russia to Europe and return to Ukraine, Nikolenko said. The government is particularly concerned about Ukrainians being sent to Siberia without documents. “They are being deported to Siberia to fill the population gaps in those areas.” More than five months after the start of the war, the position of the Ukrainian government has hardened. Zelensky initially called on Russia to withdraw to the territories it captured on 24 February. This was misinterpreted to mean that Ukraine can accept the loss of these territories. “After the crimes in Bukha, Irpin and Mariupol, it was impossible to continue the same narrative,” Nikolenko said. “We saw that Russia cannot be trusted… The official position is that Ukraine is interested in negotiations, because every war ends with a negotiated solution. But so far, we see no willingness from Russia to negotiate in good faith. The ultimate goal is to liberate all our territories from Russian occupation, including Crimea and Donbas.” [ Ukrainian teenager in captivity: ‘I held him while he was bleeding. A soldier called a doctor and they took him’ ] In the early stages of the war, Zelensky seemed to accept Russia’s demand to become a neutral country. “Joining NATO is a long-term goal that we have never given up on,” Nikolenko said. “What the president was saying was that Ukraine now needs security guarantees.” Ukraine will not lay down its arms until NATO, or powerful Western nations, provide ironclad guarantees of protection should Russia attack it again. That possibility is being explored in the working group on security guarantees for Ukraine, which is co-chaired by Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, and former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The president’s office said in a statement after the group’s second meeting on July 22 that “an interconnected system of multilateral and bilateral duly ratified agreements between Ukraine and the guarantor states” would be required. Zelensky promised that vast areas of southern Ukraine seized by Russia would soon be liberated. On Tuesday night, Ukrainian forces destroyed the Antonivskyi bridge over the Dnipro River in Kherson. The occupation government said it was closed for repairs. “Russia is trying to absorb the occupied territories of the south,” Nikolenko said. “They are trying to speed up the process of issuing Russian passports to the population. They are preparing the referendum to join these regions in the Russian Federation. Ukrainians living in these territories want to remain in Ukraine. It might be a different story with Donbass or Crimea.” Nikolenko sees Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statement this week that Russia is ready to negotiate as a ploy to stop Ukraine’s counteroffensive. “They understand that Ukraine is preparing a counterattack in the south and they want to create the impression that Ukraine is not willing to negotiate,” Nikolenko said. “This is to gain more time, to hold fake referendums and absorb these territories. We don’t see any willingness from them to negotiate. They are still shelling Ukrainian cities. They continue to violate minor agreements, such as the grain agreement. They say one thing in public, but do other things on the battlefield.” A combine unloads wheat near the city of Obukhiv in the Kiev region: Ukraine and Moscow signed an agreement to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports. The next day, July 23, a Russian missile hit the port of Odessa. Photo: Roman Pilipey/EPA-EFE Russia agreed on July 22 to allow Ukraine to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports, but has since repeatedly attacked the main port of Odessa. Ukrainian officials said exports would resume this week, but now say they are “hopeful” shipments will resume “in the next few days.” Ukraine was reported to be mining the ports to prevent a Russian landing. It is not clear whether the waters are demined, but Nikolenko hinted that Ukraine knows where the mines are and will steer grain-carrying ships safely through them: “Everything that happens in territorial waters will be controlled by Ukraine, including ports. We said we will make sure to route the ships through safe corridors so they can safely exit international waters.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had hailed the grain deal as a “beacon of hope”. Lavrov said on July 25 that nothing in the deal prevented Russia from continuing to attack Ukraine. “We see no connection between these two processes [the grain deal and pursuit of the war]Nikolenko said. “On the contrary, we see Russia stepping up its attacks. They bomb Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and other Ukrainian cities every day.” Zelensky no longer criticizes Ukraine’s allies for not doing enough. Officials only express gratitude. “Ireland is a small country with a big heart,” Nikolenko said. “He opened his doors and his heart to embrace Ukrainian refugees. This will not be forgotten in Ukraine. We really appreciate Ireland’s stance in supporting Ukraine’s EU candidacy, providing humanitarian support and supporting EU sanctions. Our relations with Ireland are a model for relations with any country.”
