Ukrainian and Russian Officials Meet in Belarus to Exchange POW Lists and Repatriate Bodies

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, met with Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatyana Moskalkova, in Belarus, where they exchanged lists of prisoners of war.

This was reported by Lubinets on his official media account.

The meeting became possible with the support of the Belarusian side and in the presence of the ICRC.

“I spoke with the leadership of the ICRC missions in Ukraine and Russia, once again emphasizing the urgent need for ICRC access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians,” Lubinets wrote.

A new initiative was launched to deliver letters from Ukrainian families to prisoners of war held in Russia, while the bodies of fallen soldiers were repatriated to their homeland.

It was noted that all interactions with the Russian side aim to address humanitarian issues, bring Ukrainians home, and gather information about Ukrainian citizens in Russia.

In a large-scale repatriation operation, Ukraine returned the bodies of 563 fallen defenders to their homeland, according to a recent report by Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War on November 8.