MOSCOW: Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova has located two Russian officers who went missing more than a year ago a...
MOSCOW: Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova has located two Russian officers who went missing more than a year ago after being captured in Ukraine.
She made the announcement during a commemorative event at the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Hill and noted that negotiations with Ukraine on the next exchange are going on daily.
TASS has compiled the key facts on the subject that are known at the moment.
Search for missing Russian officers
Two Russian officers who were captured in Ukraine more than a year ago and went missing were found: "Just yesterday, I received photos from Ukraine of our captured officers. Two of them were convicted by Ukraine. And the families have been looking for them for over a year. We not only located them, but we received photos and letters from the Ukrainian side to their families and friends."
Preparations for a new exchange
The Defense Ministry and the Russian special services "are negotiating on a daily basis on the organization of another prisoner of war exchange" with Ukraine.
Moskalkova is "in touch with the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada to retrieve the civilians who ended up in the camps: And we are negotiating that the civilians who were subjected to repression for their pro-Russian views return as part of the exchange."
Appeals from the repressed in Ukraine
Almost 500 appeals from Ukrainian citizens and about 100 appeals from Russians wishing to move to Russia due to political repression in Ukraine have come in, Moskalkova said in April.
She noted that a large number of citizens of Russia and Ukraine had been subjected in Ukraine to criminal repression, prosecution and punishment for their pro-Russian position: "They are condemned for justifying aggression, for separatism, if they are citizens of Ukraine."
According to her, through negotiations between the ombudsmen of Russia and Ukraine, as well as through direct negotiations between the countries in the Istanbul format, almost 100 people were returned earlier: "These are the citizens of both Ukraine and Russia who were convicted specifically for their pro-Russian positions, just for speaking about Russia as a strong and respectable state. People were even persecuted for communicating in Russian in public places."
Also earlier, State Duma deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov sent Moskalkova a new list of 200 political prisoners in Ukraine, based on incoming appeals and verification of data from Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko.
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