Human Rights Commissioner shares figures on freed Ukrainian POWs, hostages, children

He said this during a briefing, reports Espreso correspondent Kateryna Halko.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has successfully brought back 5,757 prisoners of war, 294 civilian hostages, and 1,378 children. This effort involves the President, Ministry of Defense, Defense Intelligence, Foreign Intelligence, Security Service, and Ministry of Internal Affairs. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and his team also play an active role.

"Our goal is to bring all Ukrainian citizens home as quickly as possible," Lubinets said. "At the same time, we work to protect their rights even while they remain on Russian soil."

He noted that among the three groups, civilian hostages are the hardest to return because there is no clear legal process.

"Prisoner of war exchanges follow the Geneva Convention. The return of Ukrainian children is happening according to an approved plan, supported by an international coalition of countries. But returning civilian hostages is the most difficult challenge. We don’t have a legal procedure for these exchanges, nor a direct communication channel with any international partner to pressure Russia to release civilian hostages," Lubinets explained.

He added that he hopes a legal intermediary country will emerge to help raise the issue of returning civilian hostages.