Ombudsman: ICRC refuses to disclose number of Ukrainian POWs it visited.

Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) refused to disclose the number of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian captivity it visited. Lubinets made the announcement[1] on June 22, following his meeting with Jurg Eglin, the head of the delegation of the ICRC to Ukraine, and Wendy Julia Fleury, ICRC coordinator for multilateral and humanitarian affairs. "The delegation said that this was confidential information," Lubinets wrote. "I assume that this figure is 10 times less than the number of Russian prisoners visited on the territory of Ukraine."

The ICRC representatives also said they could not do their job because Russia does not comply with the laws and customs of war. Lubinets also asked the ICRC representatives whether Ukrainian prisoners of war were able to exchange letters with their relatives, just like Russian POWs are able to in Ukraine. "The delegation did not give a response," he said. "However, the delegation spoke about their new mechanism - recording messages from Ukrainian soldiers and their families on a tablet.

They noted that they had allegedly already transmitted several hundred short messages this way. Unfortunately, we are unable to verify these words." Lubinets also raised the topic of the terrorist attack[2] of the Russian military on a prisoner camp in occupied Olenivka, which killed dozens of Ukrainian soldiers.

The ICRC stated that it had no new information on the matter. The ICRC has been widely criticized by Ukrainian society for failing to fulfill its duties in wartime.

'Unity is key.' Volunteers join forces to save flood-hit Kherson Oblast While the world was gripped by the horrendous flood that hit Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast after Russian forces destroyed the massive Kakhovka dam over the Dnipro River on June 6, fearless volunteers and regular Ukrainians spent no time doubting they had to step up again.

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[3] Toma Istomina

Deputy chief editor

Toma Istomina is the deputy chief editor of the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked for the Kyiv Post from 2017-2021, first as a staff writer, later taking editor roles. For co-founding the Kyiv Independent, Toma was selected as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in 2022.

She holds a master's in international broadcasting from Taras Shevchenko University.

References

  1. ^ announcement (www.facebook.com)
  2. ^ terrorist attack (kyivindependent.com)
  3. ^ 'Unity is key.' Volunteers join forces to save flood-hit Kherson OblastWhile the world was gripped by the horrendous flood that hit Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast after Russian forces destroyed the massive Kakhovka dam over the Dnipro River on June 6, fearless volunteers and regular Ukrainians spent no time doubting they had to step up again.

    Many rushed directly t... (kyivindependent.com)

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