Russia still does not allow Red Cross to visit Ukrainian prisoners – Ukrainian Ombudsman
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman), said that Russia still does not allow the Red Cross to visit Ukrainian prisoners.
Source: Lubinets on Telegram
Quote: "The ICRC still does not have access to prisoners of war and civilian hostages.
One of the topics for discussion with Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights, was the topic of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in particular, the non-admission of their representatives to prisoners of war and civilian hostages held by the Russian side."
Details: Lubinets said that he suggested that Moskalkova hold an online meeting, which will be attended by two ombudspeople and heads of permanent monitoring missions of the ICRC, both from Russia and Ukraine.
The Ukrainian commissioner believes that this meeting is necessary to discuss the problem of admission and find ways to solve it, so that representatives of monitoring missions can get access to Ukrainians in the occupied territories.
Lubinets also said that his proposal was accepted, but he is still waiting for approval.
At the same time, on 17 January, Russian Ombutswoman Moskalkova suddenly stated that she didn't discuss prisoners' exchange with Ukrainian counterpart.
At the end of 2022, the Ukrainian commissioner said that a meeting was planned between him and Moskalkova and that they would first of all talk about the exchange of prisoners, in particular civilians and wounded.
Reminder:
- In January, representatives from Ukraine and Russia met in Ankara. The Turkish Ombudsman was also present at the meeting. According to him, the meeting began with attacks by Moskalkova, who accused Ukraine of starting the war, even though the Russian army invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Turkish ombudsman Şeref Malkoç said he had to stop her.
- He also announced that Ukraine and Russia are working on a major exchange of prisoners of war, which can involve 1,000 people in total. According to him, the Ukrainian Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, handed over a list of 800 people to the Russian side, and Moskalkova handed over a list of 200 people to Lubinets.
- Malkoç added that the two sides had discussed creating a "humanitarian corridor" in Istanbul for any exchange.
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