Severely wounded soldiers priority in POW swap efforts - Ukraine

That’s according to an official from the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, who met with the families of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia, Ukrinform reports.

The event was held on the initiative of the Marine Corps Support Headquarters of Ukraine non-governmental organization with the participation of the association of families of fighters of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade.

During the meeting, the representative of the Coordination HQ emphasized that, according to the Geneva Conventions, the Russian side must return gravely wounded and seriously ill combatants without any preconditions.

Likewise, children, women, and civilian hostages illegally held by Russia in places of detention should be repatriated beyond any POW exchange processes.

With regard to information about missing and captured servicemen, the HQ spokesperson noted that such reports are collected in different ways: these include official confirmation by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation through the International Committee of the Red Cross, photo and video materials from open sources, as well as the testimony of defenders already returned from captivity.

A significant amount of valuable information comes from relatives, but access is restricted to some reports so it is forbidden to disclose them.

The Coordination HQ emphasized that they do not independently run field search operations, leaving this to authorized bodies.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Coordination HQ stated that the POW exchange fund available in Ukraine is sufficient to carry out work on the liberation of the military from Russian captivity.