Ukraine to share list of journalists in Russian captivity with Vatican after Zelenskyy-Pope meeting

According to the Presidential Office's press service, Zelenskyy thanked the Pope for “his prayers for peace in Ukraine, spiritual closeness to Ukrainians, humanitarian aid, and the Vatican's participation in the first Peace Summit.”

Zelenskyy discussed the progress on the Peace Formula, particularly mentioning a conference about the return of captured and deported Ukrainians, scheduled for October 30-31 in Canada at the ministerial level. He invited a representative of the Vatican to attend.

He also talked about the wounded and seriously ill people, including women and children, who are in Russian captivity.

"Russia continues to forcibly relocate our Ukrainian children – from one occupied area to another. It also continues to deport our Ukrainian children to Russia, and it becomes extremely difficult to find these children later," Zelenskyy said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also talked about captured journalists. He mentioned that Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna had recently died in Russian captivity. He asked the Pope to help bring home Ukrainian journalists and community leaders who have been captured. They agreed that Ukraine would provide a list of these journalists.

"We know that over 400 women are held captive in Russia. It has been confirmed through the International Committee of the Red Cross and other sources that 1,700 civilians are in captivity. According to our information, this number could be significantly higher," Zelenskyy said.

He also noted that almost everyone returning from captivity needs medical care and rehabilitation.

After his meeting with the Pope, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine will provide the Vatican with a list of journalists currently held in Russian captivity. 

He shared this during his evening video address, stating, “It’s very challenging to push for exchanges, which is why we need special assistance, particularly from the Vatican. We’ve agreed to hand over a list of journalists who are in captivity in Russia.”

Zelenskyy's visit to Vatican

On October 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Vatican and met with Pope Francis, according to Reuters. This was Zelenskyy's second personal meeting with the Pope in four months.

The Pope and Zelenskyy held private talks at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. The day before, Pope Francis met privately with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

"I wanted to tell the Pope about the disaster of the war and the challenges we will face this winter," Shevchuk told Vatican media.