Rada calls on international community to facilitate release of Mariupol defenders from Russian captivity

The Verkhovna Rada asked the international community to facilitate the release from Russian captivity and the return to Ukraine of the defenders of Mariupol.

A total of 293 votes were given for the draft resolution No. 9525 with the minimum required of 226, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to the statement, the Ukrainian Parliament:

• calls on international institutions, parliaments and governments of foreign countries to intensify international and national efforts to release and return to Ukraine all Ukrainian prisoners of war and all illegally detained persons - citizens of Ukraine, primarily prisoners of war - defenders of Mariupol;
• calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as the UN Committees against Torture and on Human Rights to strengthen efforts to ensure the improvement of the conditions of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by the Russian Federation and to prevent torture, humiliation of honor and dignity, violation of human rights, and to establish the whereabouts of all prisoners who are citizens of Ukraine;
• calls on the international community to strengthen efforts, including through the International Criminal Court, in order to ensure the prosecution of all persons guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity on the territory of Ukraine, as well as the prosecution of the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation for the commission of the crime aggression by creating a special international tribunal.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Verkhovna Rada called on the international community to condemn the forced deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia.