Contents tagged with POWs
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Kyiv: Russia halts POW exchanges, using detainees as leverage to destabilize Ukraine and provoke protests
Russia has effectively suspended the exchanges of prisoners of war, as it aims to use them as a "lever of influence" and destabilize Ukrainian society, said Petro Yatsenko, head of the press service of the Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, in an interview with Nastoyashchee Vremya.
"Russia is trying to convince the families that the exchanges are not happening due to obstacles on the Ukrainian side, thereby calling for mass protests. They are using prisoners of war as …
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Savchenko visited Ukrainian POWs in the DPR
Nadiya Savchenko, an MP in the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, went to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and visited Ukrainian prisoners there. She posted a list the names of 34 prisoners contained in 12 cells on her Facebook page on Saturday, February 25. "It was possible to see our prisoners. The guys are doing well. The general conditions are like a prison. The attitude towards them, they say, is normal. They believe that they will soon be free, and do not lose hope...." …
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Separatists agree to allow Red Cross to access POWs in eastern Ukraine
The so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) have promised not to obstruct access to prisoners for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as reported by Russia's Interfax news agency citing the office of Ombudsman of the DPR.
"We work closely with international organizations on a range of issues. There have not been, nor are there currently, barriers that would prevent ICRC from accessing prisoners," the agency said.
In …
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Savchenko published the lists of POWs despite SBU’s opposition
Despite the opposition of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Nadiya Savchenko has published on her Facebook page a list of the Ukrainians who are imprisoned by the LPR and DPR, as well as those who are considered missing. She also posted the names of those who the DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) demand to be released. The SBU believes that this move could harm the prisoner exchange process and their families. Savchenko herself believes the opposite: that …
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Security Service of Ukraine cautioned Savchenko against publicly disclosing information about POWs
The Security Service of Ukraine cautioned the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Nadiya Savchenko, against public disclosure of the list of prisoners and missing people in the Donbas due to potential harm it may cause
“Of course, we are aware of the lists. We work with these lists. I can only say that there are certain laws that restrict the release of any information related to personal data. In 2014-2015, we used to catch rogues who received classified information about our heroes, hostages who …
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Security Service of Ukraine: Some Ukrainian prisoners are still being held by separatist commanders
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) believes that some of the Ukrainian prisoners were captured by separatist commanders, as indicated by the Advisor to the Head of the SSU, Yuriy Tandyt, 112 Ukraine reports.
According to him, they expect the release of 47 Ukrainian prisoners in the near future. These POWs have been held in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"I am confident that these men will be released. We have confirmed 47 hostages from Donetsk and Lugansk. We sent a list of 109 hostages, …
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Former Ukrainian POW: The prisoner situation in the Donbas is beneficial for Russia
A Ukrainian militia volunteer, Volodymyr Zhemchugov, who was seriously wounded and spent almost a year in the captivity of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic, shared his opinion about the problem of prisoner exchanges between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the armed groups of the LPR and DPR. In an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda he said that the separatists often managed to “cheat” Ukrainian negotiators.
“I was resentful when they managed to play Ukraine for a fool,” the former …
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Ukraine's Security Service says it found eight 'torture chambers' in the Donbas
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) identified the addresses of eight alleged torture chambers in the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as was reported by the head of the SSU, Vasyl Hrytsak, 112 Ukraine news channel reports.
Two torture chambers were found in the Luhansk region and six in the Donetsk region.
"The data was collected gradually. I cannot say, I don’t know how many addresses are still unknown to us. Because we, by defining the legal status …
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Poroshenko says his negotiations with Putin ensured the release of Ukrainian POWs
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Ukrainians Volodymyr Zhemchugov and Yuriy Suprun, who were newly released from captivity. Channel 112 Ukraine broadcasted the event. Poroshenko announced that it was his negotiations with Russian President Putin that got them released.
"Today after many months of an amazing amount of work, including my own negotiations with Putin, two very significant Ukrainian heroes have returned, Volodymyr Zhemchugov and Yuriy Suprun. Volodymyr Zhemchugov is a …
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Eastern Ukrainian separatist leader proposes prisoner exchange
On Sunday, August 20, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky sent a proposal to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on a possible exchange of prisoners of war.
Plotnitsky suggested that Kiev be the first to release imprisoned separatists. The head of the self-declared republic that he would be prepared to release Ukrainian POWs the following day. He also added that the leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, agreed to …