The meeting of the ombudsmen of Ukraine and Russia caused a scandal: Dmytro Lubinets explained who hugged the representatives of the Russian Federation
Negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and Russia on humanitarian issues traditionally remain one of the most sensitive topics of the war. They concern prisoners of war, civilian hostages, deported children and other categories of people whose fate depends on the results of such contacts. Therefore, any details of such meetings are under the close attention of society and often become the subject of heated discussions.
What caused the public outrage
A video of the meeting between the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets and the newly appointed Russian Ombudsman Yana Lantratova caused a wide resonance. The published footage showed individual representatives of the Ukrainian delegations greeting and hugging the Russians.
This episode became the occasion for a wave of criticism and indignation of Ukrainians on social networks. Many users reminded that the war has been going on for over ten years, and Russia continues its daily attacks against Ukraine, so any friendly gestures between representatives of the parties are negatively perceived.
In the comments, Ukrainians called such footage unacceptable against the backdrop of the deaths of military personnel and civilians, and also emphasized that such behavior could be perceived as a manifestation of excessive friendliness towards representatives of the aggressor state. Some users demanded explanations regarding the composition of the delegation and the circumstances of the meeting.
What Dmytro Lubinets reported
Commenting on the situation, Dmytro Lubinets stated that the people caught on video hugging did not represent the Ukrainian Ombudsman’s office.
According to him, these individuals belonged to the special services that participated in the negotiations. Lubinets specified that the meeting took place on the territory of Belarus, where representatives of the special services of the three states were present.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner emphasized that he had no relation to the institutions that these people represented, and emphasized that there were no employees of his office among them.
“I have no relation to the institutions that represented these individuals.These were not people from the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine.These were special services,” Lubinets said, adding that the meeting took place on the territory of Belarus, and representatives of the special services of three countries were there. countries.
Why were the negotiations held?
The meeting between Dmitry Lubinets and Yana Lantratova took place on June 5, the day of the next exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia. The negotiations lasted more than three hours.
Lubinets explained that the main goal of the contact was to preserve and develop the humanitarian direction of the negotiations, which covers the issue of the return of prisoners of war, civilians and other categories of citizens whose fate depends on the interaction between the parties.
He also reported that the Ukrainian side uses various negotiation approaches to achieve results in complex humanitarian issues. Among them is the tactic, which in diplomatic practice is called the principle of “good and bad policeman”.
Who is Yana Lantratova
For Yana Lantratova, this meeting was the first official communication with the Ukrainian Ombudsman after her appointment to the position. In May 2026, she replaced Tatyana Moskalkova, who headed the institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia for ten years.
At the same time, Lantratova’s name already appears in criminal proceedings of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. In Ukraine, she is suspected of involvement in the forced deportation of children and violation of the laws and customs of war.
According to the investigation, in late August 2022, Lantratova, together with Inna Varlamova — the wife of Russian State Duma deputy Sergei Mironov — visited occupied Kherson. Ukrainian law enforcement officials claim that after that, two children were taken from the Kherson regional children’s home — ten-month-old Margarita Prokopenko and two-year-old Ilya Vashchenko.
After Lantratova’s appointment, Russian and international media paid attention to the circumstances of her career advancement. In particular, the Meduza publication reported that her candidacy for the position of human rights commissioner was supported by Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov.
It is precisely because of the circumstances of the war, accusations of deportation of Ukrainian children, and participation in humanitarian negotiations that any contacts with the new Russian ombudswoman are under special attention of Ukrainian society. Because of this, the video from the meeting caused outrage among Ukrainians regarding the permissible limits of communication with representatives of the aggressor state when resolving humanitarian issues.
