Zelenskyy: Discussed issue of returning our people home from Russian captivity with Pope. PHOTO
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had discussed the return of Ukrainians captured by Russia to Ukraine with Pope Francis.
He said this in his Telegram channel, Censor.NET reports.
"For all of us in Ukraine, everything related to captured and deported people remains an extremely painful issue. These are adults and children, many civilians who are now in prisons and camps in Russia," he said.
The Head of State reminded that on 10 October, it had become known that Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna had died in captivity in Russia.
"For many Ukrainian journalists who knew Victoriia, her death is a real blow. And there are still many other journalists, public figures, community leaders from the occupied territory, even just ordinary people who were captured during the Russian occupation, in Russian captivity," Zelenskyy said.
"The issue of returning our people home from captivity was the main one during the meeting with Pope Francis. We are counting on the Holy See's assistance in bringing home Ukrainians captured in Russian captivity," the President added.
This is the third meeting between Zelenskyy and the Pope.
Prior to that, the Ukrainian leader visited the Vatican in May 2023 and met with Francis in June 2024 at a bilateral meeting during the "Group of Seven" (G7) summit in Italy.
