Ukraine Hands Over To Russia All Seriously Wounded Occupants Whose Condition Permitted Transportation

Ukraine handed over to the aggressor state of Russia all the seriously wounded occupiers, whose condition allowed transportation, captured since the beginning of the large-scale invasion. This is stated in the message of the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Ukraine carried out a humanitarian action and handed over to Russia all the seriously wounded occupiers, whose condition allowed transportation, captured since the beginning of the large-scale invasion," the message reads.

Adhering to international obligations, in accordance with Articles 109-114 of the Geneva Conventions and with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ukraine unilaterally transferred seriously wounded and seriously ill captured occupiers to the Russian side.

In this case, it is not about the exchange of prisoners of war, but rather about repatriation: the return of seriously wounded prisoners without any conditions, as stipulated by international humanitarian law.

The coordination headquarters notes that the aggressor state, systematically disregarding international norms, is still holding thousands of Ukrainian citizens hostage, including the seriously ill and wounded, civilians, children and women, the elderly, as well as those who were captured by Russia even before the start of the large-scale invasion.

All these categories of citizens, according to international humanitarian law, should be returned to Ukraine by repatriation without any conditions, despite this, Russia not only continues to hold civilians and non-combatants hostage, but also refuses to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to their places of detention, does not provide them contact with relatives, proper nutrition, medical care, deliberately creating inhumane conditions of captivity.

Ukraine calls on the world community to increase pressure on the aggressor state in order to force Russia to comply with international humanitarian law and to release from captivity all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 7, Ukraine and Russia conducted another exchange of prisoners, 130 soldiers returned home from Russian captivity, most of them with serious injuries.