Ukraine brings back three Ukrainian POWs from Hungary

20 June, 2023 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were returned from Hungary. June 2023. Ukraine: Coordination Headquarters

The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest organized the departure of three Ukrainian prisoners of war from Hungary. Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, reported on this. The POWs are already back in Ukraine and receiving all the needed support.

Ukrainian diplomats continue to take active measures to return the remaining Ukrainian defenders handed over by Russia to Hungary. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War published a photo of three Ukrainian servicemen who were taken from Russian captivity to Hungary and who have now been returned to Ukraine.

Ukrainian prisoners of war who were returned from Hungary. June 2023.

Ukraine. Photo credits: Coordination Headquarters

At the beginning of June 2023, the Hungarian side announced that 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been taken from Russia under the agreements between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Maltese Aid Service. At the same time, the Hungarian side did not give Ukrainian diplomats access to the citizens of Ukraine, instead asserting that they have a free status, and also denied the involvement of the government in the removal of POWs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba stated that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is personally interested in the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia to Hungary. According to the minister, "Orban had to show Hungarians both in Hungary and outside Hungary that he is their only defender."

They knew about the operation

Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that Ukraine knew about the Russian special operation regarding the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary even before the official statements. But Budapest, in response to inquiries, denied the operation.

Andrii Yusov.

Photo credits: Suspilne

"[They denied] Until the moment the information became public in the mass media: then it was made public unilaterally by the Russian Orthodox Church, and only after that the representatives of the Hungarian government actually began to provide information that was controversial enough. At first, they said that the soldiers were prisoners of war, then that they were free people, and that they themselves turned to them. But we understand that this is not so.

There was a request from Hungary, specifically regarding prisoners of war.

There is confirmation of this, including documentary evidence," Yusov said.

He noted that after the POWs were transferred to Hungary, they were not released, they are under surveillance, and contact and communication with them are limited.