On March 24, the Coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war reported that today Ukraine returned to Russia all its soldiers-occupiers, who came on our land to kill the Ukrainian people and were wounded.
"Ukraine unilaterally transferred seriously wounded and seriously ill prisoners of war to the Russian side. In this case, we are not talking about the exchange of prisoners of war, but about repatriation: the return of seriously wounded prisoners without any conditions, as provided for by international humanitarian law," CHTPoW.
The return of prisoners of war took place in accordance with the Geneva conventions and with the assistance of the Red Cross. Ukraine expects that Russia, at least this time, will comply with international law and return prisoners of war that it illegally holds captive. There are many civilians among these prisoners, including children, women, the elderly and seriously wounded, and each of them must be returned to Ukraine v not exchanged for Russian soldiers.
"Russia not only continues to hold civilians and non-combatants hostage, but also refuses to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to their places of detention, does not provide them with contact with their relatives, proper food, and medical care," CHTPoW.
As of September 2022, 2.500 Ukrainians were illegally held in Russian captivity. Today this number is many times higher.
