Moscow, Aug. 1 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Ukrainian officials of "cultural degradation bordering on savagery" following the offer to exchange exhumed remains of Soviet soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

In an article published on Friday, Lavrov referenced an incident in which the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Lviv, Andrey Sadovy, proposed exchanging the exhumed remains of soldiers from a World War II memorial "whom he described as 'occupiers'" for Ukrainian service members captured by Russia in the ongoing conflict, RT reported. Moscow and Kiev have conducted prisoner swaps on an equal basis throughout the war, although Ukraine's pool of POWs for exchanges is reportedly seriously depleted.

"The neo-Nazi...