"We exchanged postcards": Lubinets says Ukraine has begun to receive some information about prisoners from Russia

Ukraine has begun to receive some information about its captured defenders from Russia. During the last exchange, the parties exchanged postcards.

This statement was made by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets. He said this during a telethon.

"We have finally started to receive some information from the Russian side regarding the prisoners. During the last exchange, we exchanged postcards. Together with the Russian counterpart, we simultaneously interviewed prisoners of war, those who were returned by Ukraine. In the presence of my staff, the Russian representatives heard words of gratitude," Lubinets said.

He also noted that in the presence of Ukrainian representatives, the Russian side learned about cases of torture among the Ukrainian military, failure to provide medical care and loss of limbs due to untimely medical care in the Russian Federation.

"We expect there will be a reaction, at least we are planning to discuss all this information," the ombudsman said.

Lubinets expressed hope that these steps will help to ensure that representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross are allowed to visit Ukrainian prisoners. He emphasized the importance of putting pressure on Russia and the ICRC to ensure compliance with international obligations regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.

"I don't know how else we should put pressure on the Russians and the ICRC so that finally the Russians start fulfilling their international obligations and we stop returning our prisoners of war in such a terrible physical condition. We have confirmation that our prisoners in Russia died of torture," the Ombudsman summarized.

As a reminder, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 54 prisoner exchanges have already taken place  In total, almost 3,500 Ukrainians have been returned.

Earlier, it became known that a soldier who survived Russian torture was killed in captivity. Yuriy Reshta, a 47-year-old Ukrainian soldier from Kryvyi Rih, stood up to defend his homeland on February 24, 2022, participated in the defense of Mariupol and was taken prisoner. The Russians tortured and shot him. The family and friends of the soldier, whose seven children were waiting for him at home, have only now had the opportunity to say goodbye: the body of the Ukrainian was handed over by Russian war criminals with three bullet wounds to the chest and one to the head.

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