Kyiv Unilaterally Hands Over All Seriously Wounded Captive Occupiers to Aggressor State

Ukraine handed over all seriously wounded and seriously ill occupiers captured since the beginning of the large-scale invasion to the Russian side. In particular, the people whose health condition allowed for transportation were handed over.

As the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reports, Ukraine complies with international obligations and handed over captives to implement Articles 109-114 of the Geneva Conventions and with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“In this case, it is not about the exchange of prisoners of war, but rather about repatriation: the return of seriously wounded captives without any conditions as stipulated by international humanitarian law,” the Headquarters explained.

At the same time, it is emphasized that the aggressor state, systematically disregarding international norms, is still holding thousands of Ukrainian citizens hostage, including the seriously ill and wounded, civilians, children and women, the elderly, as well as those who were captured by Russia even before the start of the large-scale invasion.

“All these categories of citizens, according to international humanitarian law, should be returned to Ukraine through repatriation unconditionally. Despite this, Russia not only continues to hold civilians and non-combatants hostage but also refuses to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit their places of detention, does not provide them with a possibility to contact their relatives, proper nutrition, medical care, deliberately creating inhumane conditions of captivity,” the report says.

Kyiv once again called on the international community to step up pressure on the Russian Federation to force the Kremlin to comply with international humanitarian law and to release all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens from captivity.

Bohdan Marusyak