Russia illegally detains more than 14,000 Ukrainian citizens - Lubinets
Russia illegally detains more than 14,000 Ukrainian citizens. The work on their return is the most difficult. Ukraine is also making every effort to return almost 20,000 children.
According to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine, Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said this on the sidelines of the Prayer Breakfast under the patronage of the President, which took place in Kyiv on 29 June.
"Returning three categories of Ukrainian citizens - children, prisoners of war, and civilians - it is the most difficult work with civilians," he said, commenting on the return of 10 Ukrainian citizens from Russian captivity, including Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Dzhelal, and priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levytskyi.
Lubinets explained that in the case of civilians, it is not a question of exchange, as in the case of prisoners of war, but rather of return.
"We cannot exchange them, we do not have any additional influence on the Russian Federation. We do not even have a legal basis on which to conduct this process," he added.
Lubinets reminded that Ukraine is also making every effort to return almost 20,000 children and "tens of thousands" of people who are considered missing.
He clarified that this was the first time that the Vatican, which had previously provided assistance only in the case of children, took part in the return of Ukrainians home.
"So far, they (the Vatican - Ed.) have helped us with the return of Ukrainian children. We are in direct communication with them. I hope that this return will be a new point... Perhaps a new channel of communication and the return of Ukrainian civilians has finally opened," the Ombudsman said.
As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 3,310 people had been returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity during the war.
