Over a thousand Ukrainian military personnel and civilians have been held captive by Russia since 2022.
This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“Russia planned to capture Kyiv in three days, but security and defense forces repelled the offensive. However, civilians and military units that found themselves in the path of the advancing Russian troops became hostages of the situation. More than a thousand people have been held captive since 2022,” he said.
Okhrimenko added that the Coordination Headquarters is working with the Russian side to secure the release of this category of prisoners first, as poor nutrition and medical care, as well as systematic abuse of our civilians and military personnel, are taking a toll.
“We understand that these people must be a priority because their time is running out,” noted the head of the Coordination Headquarters Secretariat.
As reported, in April of this year, during the Easter exchange, a significant number of prisoners who had been held in Russia since 2022 were returned.
This year, the Coordination Headquarters has returned 832 military personnel and civilians from Russian captivity. In total, since the start of the full-scale invasion, 9,048 military personnel and civilians have been returned from Russian captivity.
In February of this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that approximately 7,000 Ukrainians remain in Russian captivity.
Photo: Coordination Headquarters
