Russia forcibly detains about 14,000 Ukrainian civilians, but it is more difficult to return them home than children or military personnel. This was stated by Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets during the press conference “To return means to save”.
Lubinets noted that civilians are the most difficult category for return. This is due to the fact that the exchange procedure cannot be applied to Ukrainian civilians: after all, civilians are illegally deprived of their personal freedom. If it happens that a civilian is detained, he must be released immediately.
“This number includes citizens of Ukraine who have been detained by Russia since 2014. This happened in the territory of the Republic of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in all occupied territories of Ukraine.” – he said.
Lubinets also reported that more than 2,000 citizens of Ukraine aged 65+ are in captivity.
In February, Lubinets stated that, according to unofficial data, Russia is holding about 28,000 Ukrainian civilians captive. Among prisoners of war in the Russian Federation, 90% are tortured. These are journalists, representatives of local self-government, churches, and international representatives.
