At least six Ukrainian mayors and heads of settlements remain in Russian captivity – Zelenskyy

At least six Ukrainian mayors and hromada heads are currently held captive by Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the international community to make every effort to free those in captivity. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

Source: Zelenskyy’s address at a conference on human rights advocacy, as quoted by the President’s Office

Quote: "At least six mayors and community leaders are also currently being held in Russian captivity. They are among thousands of Ukrainians, who are innocent of any crime, but have been imprisoned for years. And not only since 2022. But also, since 2014. We are doing our utmost to get them back. 

3,767 Ukrainians have already been brought back from captivity. We engage mediators for this purpose. We are looking for various negotiation, political and legal possibilities. 

And we believe that the crime is not only that Russia is holding so many of our people captive and abusing them, but also that many global forces have still not made every effort to stop this crime, secure people’s release, and punish Russia for all that its war has caused."

Details: Zelenskyy reminded the audience that recently a mayor held in Russian captivity lost his life. Yevhenii Matveiev, Mayor of the occupied Ukrainian city of Dniprorudne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, was taken captive in March 2022.

The president highlighted the world’s restrained reaction to what Russia is doing to Ukrainian captives: "How there are still so few voices in the world that speak about Ukrainian children abducted by Russia? There is also almost no response to what the Russian presence has done to our lands, our territories that are temporarily occupied."

Zelenskyy expressed concern that even the most significant Russian war crimes are gradually being forgotten by many globally, especially at the political level: "They are being forgotten precisely at the political level, at the level of those who could make decisions or take actions to fix everything."

He added that Ukraine has to fight for the establishment of a Special Tribunal against Russia for its crime of aggression.

Zelenskyy also criticized the actions of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross in protecting and bringing back Ukrainian captives in Russia, describing the assistance as minimal.

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