2,500 Ukrainians are still held in captivity
ROMAN PETRENKO – SUNDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2022, 15:49
Russia is holding 2,500 Ukrainians in captivity, as Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, reported.
Source: Vereshchuk in an interview with BBC Ukraine
Quote by Vereshchuk: "It is about 2,500 prisoners of war. People are held in captivity, and the worst thing is that civilians remain there. Civilians have not been released for several exchange rounds in a row. We must raise the topic and demand that civilians be released. They must be returned, not exchanged. Moreover, a lot of women are there.
Many women remain in captivity. Considering that 131 women left Azovstal, imagine how many are still in captivity. Only a few returned. Women must be liberated; they are treated terribly. Women are abused; they [Russian invaders - ed.] beat Ukrainian women, they torture them."
Background:
- On September 21, as part of another exchange round with the Russian Federation, 215 Ukrainian soldiers were released.
- Border guards, policemen, sailors, national guardsmen, territorial defence fighters, customs officers, civilians are among those released. The list of released people includes Azov regiment commanders from Azovstal steel plant, in particular, Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, Serhii "Volyna" Volynskyi, Sviatoslav Palamar, Denys Shleha, Oleh Khomenko. In addition, Mykola "Frost" Kushch and Kostyantyn "Fox" Nikitenko, whom the Russians wanted to execute, were among the liberated Azov members, too.
- Five commanders of the Azov regiment are staying in Turkey, under the personal guarantees of protection and security provided by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
- Viktor Medvedchuk, the former Ukrainian MP who is also widely known as a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and 55 Russian servicemen returned to Russia.
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