About 80 prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are still being held in the correctional colony in Olenivka in the Donetsk Region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated this, according to a statement from the Office of the President, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
Zelenskyy noted that from today, July 28, Ukraine will observe the Day of Commemoration of the Defenders of Ukraine, members of volunteer formations and civilians who were executed, tortured or died in captivity.
On this day, Zelenskyy met with the team working to release prisoners and assist them, and with military and civilian personnel released from captivity, in particular with the Azov defenders and defenders of Mariupol, as well as those who survived the russian terrorist attack in Olenivka on the night of July 29, 2022.
"Unfortunately, not everyone has been returned home yet, and we will fight. I want to thank you for your work and for your struggle, for each of those who are still in captivity. According to our data, about 80 of our soldiers remain in Olenivka today. We will definitely return everyone," the President emphasized.
During the meeting, they discussed what efforts need to be made to release all Ukrainians from russian captivity, as well as the investigation of the criminal proceedings regarding the terrorist attack in Olenivka, communication and work with the families of prisoners, the process of accompanying those released from russian camps, the repatriation of bodies, and measures to speed up the identification of the deceased.
The released prisoners emphasized that it is important to improve the system of medical examination and treatment, improve the process of preparing lists for exchanges, and update the register of civilian Ukrainians detained by the russian federation.
Zelenskyy instructed the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and the Minister of Defense to work on these issues and prepare proposals that will allow them to be resolved.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Zelenskyy previously reported that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has returned about 6,000 people from russian captivity. In particular, more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers were returned as a result of exchanges within the framework of the Istanbul agreements.
UN experts have established that the terrorist attack in the colony in Olenivka on July 28, 2022 was organized by the russian ministry of defense with the participation of the russian armed forces. As a result of the terrorist attack, 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed, and about 130 more were injured.
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