11 heads of local communities held captive by Russian military – Vereshchuk

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said this at a briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"As of today, 11 heads of local communities from Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions are in captivity. We inform the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and international organizations about them, as well as about other missing civilians, and we demand that all our civilians, our mayors, our priests, journalists and activists be released. They are illegally detained, forcibly detained, and they have the right for others to fight for their release. We are doing it, and we urge others to do it, and we urge others to do it," Vereshchuk said.

She noted that negotiations are also underway to release all civilians as part of the exchange of prisoners of war. Vereshchuk also added that yesterday, April 2, after the liberation of Kyiv region from invaders, it became known about the murder of the head of the village of Motyzhyn, Olha Sukhenko.

"She was killed in captivity by Russian inhumans. This is a war crime. The perpetrators will be held accountable in accordance with international humanitarian law," the minister said.

As reported, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry stated on April 2 that Kyiv region had been liberated from Russian invaders.