Lubinets has demanded that Russian Federation return 46 prisoners of war who were wounded following terrorist attack in Olenivka
The Verkhovna Rada’s Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, during a meeting with the Russian Ombudswoman, Yana Lantratova, called for the urgent return of 46 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were wounded during the terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022.
According to Censor.NET, citing a report by Ukrinform, the Ombudsman made this announcement during a press conference marking the fourth anniversary of his appointment to the post.
The return of those held captive in Olenivka
"On 26 June, Lantratova and I raised the issue of our prisoners of war who had passed through Olenivka. On the night of 28–29 July (2022 – ed.) in Olenivka, in my view, the Russians deliberately organised and carried out a public execution of a specific group of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They were all defenders of Mariupol, members of the National Guard’s ‘Azov’ Brigade. The Russians published a list of 130 prisoners of war who had been wounded. Of this number, 46 Ukrainian prisoners of war are still being held on Russian territory. The Olenivka families’ community asked me to publicly convey a separate letter to Lantratova, which I did on 26 June. In particular, I asked her to do everything possible to ensure that our 46 lads, who were wounded in Olenivka, are returned urgently, as they all fall into the category of the seriously wounded, the seriously ill and those who have been in captivity since 2022," he said.
In addition, according to Lubinets, the issue of monitoring the places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held was raised during the talks with the Russian representative.
"I gave Lantratova a list of facilities that I asked her to visit as a matter of priority. On 26 June, she officially informed me that she was beginning to monitor the places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are being held. What’s more, we agreed that we would carry out these monitoring visits and document them in our correspondence. This involves photos and videos, which we will exchange where possible," he said.
The Ombudsman also reported that issues had been raised regarding a radical change in the conditions of detention for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The torture of Ukrainians
"Unfortunately, since 2014, the Russians have been using torture against Ukrainian citizens. We recently presented a report entitled ‘Made in Russia’, based on the testimonies of our heroes whom we rescued from Russian captivity. We have officially documented 694 types of torture that the Russians are inflicting on Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages," he recalled.
