Third round of talks between Ukraine's Ombudsman Lubinets, Russian side takes place in Turkey

KYIV. Jan 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The third round of talks between Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and the Russian side took place in Turkey, the press service of the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said.

"During the meeting, we discussed an initiative to accelerate and deepen the issue of the return of our prisoners of war and the release of civilian hostages," the agency said.

According to Lubinets, there are the following categories of civilian hostages: those detained by Russia from 2014 to February 24, 2022, including on the territory of Crimea ("captives of the Kremlin," some 158 people); detained on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (some 373 people); civilian hostages that Russia has detained and is detaining in the territories that were temporarily or are under Russian occupation since February 24, 2022 (for example, in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kherson regions). The number of such people, about whom the Coordinating Headquarters was officially contacted, is more than 20,000 people.

"We also agreed that Russia, on the basis of the Geneva Conventions, will consider a proposal to repatriate wounded servicemen," the headquarters said.

It clarifies that the Ukrainian side handed over lists of civilians (out of 20,000) about whom it has no information, where they are, what condition they are in, or in need of medical assistance, and others.

"Mr. Lubinets noted that said the Russian side previously agreed to find out where they are, in what condition and why they are being held. In addition, they discussed the return of children to Ukraine, the restoration of documents and many other issues," the headquarters said.