Almost 37 thousand people are missing in Ukraine - Lubinets
As of today, more than 37,000 Ukrainian citizens have been added to the Unified Register of Missing Persons under Emergency Circumstances. These are civilian children and adults, as well as missing military personnel. However, the number could be much higher.
This was stated by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets at the conference "Civilians illegally detained by Russia: joint steps of the authorities and civil society for their release", Censor.NET reports.
"Russia has been abducting civilians since 2014. Civilians are subjected to various forms of violence. Currently, there are only 147 civilians at home," he said.
According to him, Ukraine has also verified about 1,700 people illegally detained by Russia, with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other means.
"Almost 37,000 people are considered missing: children, civilians and military. These figures could be much higher," he stressed.
"At the same time, we are doing everything possible to move the issue of returning civilians from point zero. In particular, this is the focus of the Ombudsman's Office and one of the tasks of paragraph 4 of the Peace Formula. In addition, at the initiative of our institution, Ukraine has created an International Platform for the Release of Civilians Illegally Detained by the Russian Federation," Lubinets said.
According to him, the Ombudsman's Office is currently doing everything possible to move the issue of civilian return forward.
In particular, it is creating working groups of countries that will put pressure on Russia, conducting negotiations and looking for a patron state. It is also trying to find a platform country for public communication on civilians. In addition, the Ombudsman's Office is discussing with Turkey the possibility of opening a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians.
