Severe psychological distress, injuries and illnesses: Lubinets spoke about civilians released from Russian captivity. PHOTOS
Today, as part of the exchange, in addition to military personnel, seven Ukrainian civilians were released—civilians whom the Russians had effectively abducted from their homes.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, according to Censor.NET.
Without trial or investigation
According to Lubinets, they were deprived of their liberty without legal grounds and were held in detention facilities without trial or investigation.
"This is a complex negotiation track—the release of illegally detained civilians. The negotiation team of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has been working on this. I have personally stepped up efforts in this regard: humanitarian communication has been ongoing with Russian Human Rights Commissioner T. Moskalkova," he said.
The boys were mostly born in the 2000s
It is reported that, following the negotiations, young men—mostly born in the 2000s—were successfully released from captivity. They are residents of the Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions. All of them had been unlawfully detained since 2022.
"All of them were abducted from their homes without any justification and detained at checkpoints. One Ukrainian was abducted while on his way to visit his father," the ombudsman added.
The boys' condition
Lubinets emphasized that those returned home are suffering from severe psychological distress, injuries, and illnesses. In particular, one of the released individuals is in critical condition: he has a traumatic brain injury, internal organ contusions, and burns on his skin caused by torture.
"All of this constitutes a direct violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Civilians should never have been detained in the first place, but they were abducted, tortured, and held hostage! The norms of international humanitarian law must be observed—civilians must be allowed to return home," the ombudsman stated.
What happened before?
- Earlier, the head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, reported that a large-scale prisoner exchange is possible on Easter.
- The exchange took place today. A total of 175 military personnel and seven civilians were released.
