By Meiramgul Kussainova
KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Talks are progressing very slowly between Ukraine and Russia to evacuate 38 seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol city, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday.
In a statement on Telegram, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said statements on the content of the negotiations spread by some politicians and journalists not only misinformed the public, but also negatively affected the negotiation process.
"People's lives are at stake. I beg you, avoid making public comments about things you don't know," Vereshchuk said.
She stressed that the current negotiations are only to extract 38 gravely wounded soldiers holed up at the steel mill.
"We are working step by step. Right now, we will exchange 38 seriously injured soldiers and then continue. There are currently no negotiations on the exchange of the 500 or 600 people, as some media outlets have claimed," she added.
Ukraine had previously offered Russia an exchange of wounded Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal for captured Russian troops.
Nearly 3,500 civilians have been killed and 3,760 others injured since Russia launched the war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is feared to be much higher.
About 6 million people have fled to other countries, with some 7.7 million people internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz