The coordination center stressed that this is not a change, but a unilateral return gesture provided by the Geneva Convention.
Ukraine unilaterally handed over to the aggressor Russian state all the seriously wounded captured invaders, whose situation allowed transport. This was announced today, March 24, by the Prisoners of War Treatment Coordination Headquarters.
Thus, Ukraine has shown that it adheres to international obligations and implements the Geneva Convention. The process was one-sided.
“In this case, we are not talking about the exchange of prisoners of war, but rather repatriation: the return of seriously wounded prisoners without any conditions, as prescribed by international humanitarian law,” the message said.
At the same time, the Coordination Headquarters noted that the Russian Federation systematically disregards international norms, still holding thousands of Ukrainian citizens hostage, including the seriously ill and wounded, civilians, children and women, the elderly and those taken prisoner by the Russians. captivity even before a major invasion begins.
Ukraine called on the world community to increase the pressure on Russia to force the aggressor to comply with international humanitarian law.
On March 3, information emerged from the Ministry of Justice that Ukraine spends at least 10,000 hryvnia per month on a Russian prisoner.
Recall that on February 27, the head of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense Kirill Budanov said that 40% of all Ukrainians in captivity in the Russian Federation are civilians.
The exact number of prisoners of war on both sides is not known, but this number exceeds several thousand. There is a regular exchange of prisoners between the warring parties. One of them took place on February 16. For a hundred captured fighters, Ukraine gave the Russian Federation a collaborator of the UOC-MP. According to intelligence, the priest supposedly helped the Russian Federation hold elections and “leaked” various information from the Russian special services to the curators.
Recall, on February 22, the media reported that Russia limited the release of the corpses of soldiers killed in Ukraine, so as not to cause panic due to the large amount of “200 cargoes”. There are so many Russian corpses that the morgues can’t handle so much work.
On February 17, British intelligence reported that Russia had lost about 175,000 soldiers in the war in Ukraine. In most cases, the Russians were killed or wounded by artillery attacks of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Source: Focus
Bridger is a political journalist at 24 News Breaker, covering the Politics section with over 5 years of experience. Known for their detail-oriented reporting, Bridger delivers insightful and engaging analysis on political issues.