Nearly 1700 civilians are currently held in captivity in the Russian Federation, with approximately 14,000 individuals considered missing.
This was reported by Dmitry Lubinets, the human rights ombudsman representative of the Verkhovna Rada, in a Telegram message.
A working group meeting on the protection of the rights and freedoms of civilians took place within the Office of the Ombudsman. Representatives from the Coordination Headquarters for Dealing with Prisoners of War, the Office of the Prosecutor General, as well as other government bodies and civil society organizations, participated in the meeting.
Olexander Kononenko, a representative of the human rights ombudsman in the security and defense sector, outlined the blocks and subgroups of the working group. He called for effective cooperation among its members.
"At the meeting, it was discussed that according to official data, nearly 1700 civilians are being held in captivity in Russia, of which almost 900 have been confirmed by the ICRC. However, the status of approximately 14,000 civilians officially registered as missing," noted Lubinets.