Transfer of 11 prisoners of war to Hungary turns into a “political detective” – Ukraine's Defence Intelligence

Ukraine's Defence Intelligence has stated that after the Russian side handed over Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary, they were not released. Source: Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, on air with Radio Liberty Quote: "There is information, including from relatives of several prisoners, that they were not actually released all this time.

They were held in conditions of supervision, with limited contact and communication. Communication with relatives is available only in the presence of third parties, and limited." Details: Yusov has said that Ukraine currently has a preliminary list of prisoners of war who have been transferred to Hungary, but cannot confirm the identities.

According to international law, as Yusov has explained, this should have been done by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which, in turn, should have been provided with information by the aggressor state, which is Russia, and another state that is signatory to all agreements, including the Geneva Convention, which is Hungary.

However, even the aggressor state does not officially report anything. The Russian Ministry of Defence did not confirm the transfer. Yusov has said that the Ukrainian side knew about the Russian special operation to transfer Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary even before the official announcement, Kyiv requested confirmation or denial of this information, but Budapest denied the operation.

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Quote: "We are dealing with a very strange case, to put it mildly. As in many other cases when it comes to international law and the aggressor state. We are waiting for official confirmation, for access to probably 11 Ukrainian defenders.

We have a preliminary list, however, obtained from various sources, including operational channels. We cannot call it official. There is a list of people whom Hungary requested from Russia a few months ago - there were 13 names.

There is a list with probably 11 that have been handed over. The fact that we are discussing this situation at all is very unfortunate. Because an event that could have been absolutely positive is turning into a kind of dramatic detective story with very tangible political overtones.

First of all, on the part of Russia, which is conducting the PSYOP... We need to get in touch with everyone, and relatives need to communicate with all those released. This has not happened yet."

Background:

The Russian Orthodox Church reported that on 8 June, "within the framework of inter-church cooperation" and at the request of the Hungarian side, a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war of Zakarpattia origin who participated in military operations on the side of Ukraine was transferred to Hungary.
Later, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, who supervised the agreements with the Russians, confirmed this information.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the Ukrainian government was not informed about the relevant negotiations between the Hungarian and Russian sides.

The temporary representative of Hungary was invited to the ministry for explanations.

At the same time, the foreign ministry stressed that the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war is "always good news".
Media outlets have figured out that the release of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war and their transportation to Hungary could have been a personal initiative of Zsolt Semjen, Deputy Prime Minister, that no one else in the government knew about.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has said that the conditions of the Ukrainian prisoners transferred to Hungary from Russia do not allow us to talk about their free status, and the Hungarian side is not engaged in a constructive dialogue with Kyiv on this issue.

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