International conventions clearly define priorities during exchanges, but Russia does not adhere to them. This was stated by Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, on the United News telethon.
According to him, the priorities defined by international conventions for such exchanges stipulate that the severely wounded and women should be returned first, followed by other categories.
"There should be some rules... But there are no responses from the Russian side, except for 'we'll think about it, we'll consider it.' Then, without any explanations, they remove 99% of the people from the lists we submit and say: take these, if you want, if not, then don't. Ukraine has never taken an ultimatum position. It is clear that we raise questions about women, the severely wounded... This exchange was on the verge of failure, but we managed to carry it out," the ombudsman said.
He mentioned that one of the defenders of Mariupol, who was freed today, had been in captivity for two years. Her son was held in the temporarily occupied territories but was returned earlier.
"First, we managed to return her son. Then, we repeatedly raised the issue of her return, even involving a separate mediator for her release. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it earlier. And today, she returned and, for the first time in more than two years, hugged her son," Lubinets said.
Another freed person, a female police officer, was, according to the ombudsman, brought to exchanges several times and then told that Ukraine had refused her, only to be sent back.
"For her, several dozen letters were sent to international organizations, and her release was raised in communications with the International Committee of the Red Cross, but success was only achieved now," he said. "According to international conventions, as a representative of the National Police, she is not a combatant; she did not fight against the Russians. And Russia, violating all norms, held her and returned her only through the exchange procedure".
According to him, all those who were freed today spoke about torture and claimed they did not see Red Cross representatives. One-third of those freed are wounded and severely wounded. All former captives are exhausted, have lost weight, and need medical treatment and rehabilitation.
"We document the condition in which we transfer Russian prisoners of war and, on the other hand, the condition in which our heroes and heroines return," Lubinets said.
