Ukraine returns more POWs than remain in Russian captivity, Ombudsman says

Ukraine’s Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said this in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to Ukrinform citing his Telegram channel.

“The number of prisoners of war who remain in Russian captivity is smaller than the number of those whom we have brought back from Russian captivity,” he said.

Lubinets did not disclose the exact number of Ukrainian POWs, emphasizing that the Russian side does not know the precise number of Russian servicemen held in Ukrainian captivity. At the same time, Ukrainian authorities do not publicly disclose the number of Ukrainians being held by Russia.

The Ombudsman also reported that, according to Ukraine’s Register of Missing Persons, 16,000 civilians are considered missing in the temporarily occupied territories.

As of today, the Ukrainian side has verified that 1,887 Ukrainian civilians are being held in Russian captivity. According to Lubinets, 878 of those individuals were verified through mechanisms of the International Committee of the Red Cross, while the remainder were identified through intelligence and security services.

As reported by Ukrinform, since March Ukraine has succeeded in returning 60 citizens from Russia and the temporarily occupied territories, including people with limited mobility and those suffering from serious illnesses.