Russian POWs will be exchanged or left in Ukraine - Vereshchuk
Kateryna Tyshchenko - Monday, 14 March 2022, 00:03PO
Russian prisoners of war will be exchanged or punished in Ukraine.
Source: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Chief of Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Iryna Vereshchuk, press service of the Ministry
Quote: "We are certainly not barbarians or a horde like the Russian army. We will act under the rules of international humanitarian law. We will definitely form an exchange group. Russian prisoners of war will be exchanged or punished in Ukraine."
Details: The system of international humanitarian law and institutions currently needs to be modernised and improved, according to Iryna Vereshchuk. For example, the famous Geneva Conventions have not actually worked since 1949.
Iryna Vereshchuk also reported that the necessary legal framework for the treatment of POWs in Ukraine has already been streamlined, the procedure has been developed, the Coordination Headquarters have been established and executive secretaries have been appointed.
Iryna Vereshchuk noted that the Russian authorities do not care too much about the fate of their dead or wounded military personnel - they are often left on the battlefield. Thus, it is difficult to predict if Russia is interested in those of its soldiers and officers who are behind bars in Ukraine.
"Currently, there is a system of exchange of prisoners of war, facilitated by the ICRC. Special cards are filled out for each prisoner and are sent to the Red Cross. I have already seen the lists, and I am aghast at the dates of birth of the young people sent to the war by the Russian Federation: 2002, 2003 ... I am shocked. After all, they used to say that this is a professional Russian army, but it’s actually children who are fighting," Vereshchuk said.
Background: Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that the captured Russian soldiers will work to restore the economy of Ukraine.