Russia seeks to exploit families of POWs to destabilize Ukraine — Ombudsman

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, shared this in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.

"Russians have a strong desire to involve the families of prisoners of war in destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. These are definitely not isolated incidents, though I wouldn’t say they are critically widespread," said Lubinets.

According to him, the families of Ukrainian POWs are under pressure from Russian special services.

"In the Russian mindset, Ukrainians are perceived as prone to frequent protests on the Maidan for any reason, so they are exploiting the non-return of Ukrainian prisoners of war to their advantage," the Ombudsman stated.

Lubinets mentioned that there were instances where some families directly appealed to the Russian authorities. Initially, the families were provided with limited information, such as receiving a photo or having a brief conversation with the POW, and then were given instructions to carry out various tasks.

“And, unfortunately, there are isolated cases when they tried to involve the families of prisoners of war in intelligence activities in favor of the Russian Federation,” the Commissioner added.

• Ukraine has officially confirmed that since the beginning of 2024, Russian soldiers have executed 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war.