Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with relatives of servicemen who were injured or killed as a result of Russia's war crime in the Olenivka colony.
The meeting, held at the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, was also attended by Chief of Headquarters, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy, Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters Dmytro Usov, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, Commander of the Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine Denys Prokopenko, representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police and the National Guard of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.
Andriy Yermak thanked the families and friends of the warriors for the meeting and emphasized that the priority for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and all members of his team is the liberation of all Ukrainians, both military and civilians, from captivity.
"To bring back home all our heroes and all your loved ones who are still in captivity there... We will not stop working on this," he said.
The Head of the President's Office noted that the work in this direction was ongoing despite the cynicism and hypocrisy of the representatives of the aggressor state and the constant change of demands.
"Last year was quite challenging in terms of returns. Unfortunately, the number of people we managed to return certainly does not meet our goals and objectives. However, no one stops for a minute and no one changes the task: all our people must be returned home," stated Andriy Yermak.
According to him, the process is complicated by the fact that today there is no international organization in the world that can demonstrate a significant result in the release of captives held by Russia. Therefore, Ukraine is acting on its own and engaging the help of its partners.
The Head of the Presidential Office emphasized the importance of bringing Russian war criminals to justice in international courts. According to him, the development of appropriate effective mechanisms for investigating crimes against the Ukrainian people and bringing the perpetrators to justice is underway. Evidence of crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine by representatives of the aggressor state is also being collected: from the Russian leadership to ordinary perpetrators of these crimes.
In particular, Andriy Yermak reminded that the team of the Commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights prepared and provided additional testimony to the ECHR in an interstate application against Russia, and a significant part of it concerned the war crime in the Olenivka colony. With the assistance of the Coordination Headquarters, human rights organizations and the NGO "Olenivka Families Community” prepared a submission on establishing the facts of grave violations of the Third Geneva Convention with evidence of intentional murder, causing serious bodily harm and other violations of international humanitarian law as a result of the explosion in the Olenivka colony, which was presented to the commissioners of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine on September 1 last year.
The Head of the Presidential Office noted that with the support of the Coordination Headquarters, human rights organizations are working on preparing a submission to the International Criminal Court.
Kyrylo Budanov, for his part, reminded that the Coordination Headquarters was established to resolve the issue of prisoner exchange.
"The most important thing is to bring everyone back. Both the living and, unfortunately, the dead. As of now, 2,828 people have been returned over the two years of full-scale war. We understand how much more needs to be done, but it is absolutely realistic. And believe me: everyone will return. It will not be easy and fast, but the process is ongoing," he emphasized.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets noted that his office constantly informs the international community and colleagues in the field of human rights protection that Russia continues to violate the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war. He also emphasized that Ukraine is looking for new mechanisms to release its citizens from Russian captivity, as well as ways to bring to justice all those responsible for committing war crimes.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights also stated that it is crucial for Ukraine to release all captives, especially those who were held in Olenivka.
"This is a matter of justice, and the entire law enforcement system of our country is working on it," he said.
The prisoner of war's wife, Anna Lobova, spoke about the work done by members of the Olenivka Families Community to find survivors of the terrorist attack, establish their whereabouts, and inform citizens of other countries about this horrific crime.
In this context, the participants discussed measures to systematically draw the world's attention to the problem of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including those who are seriously wounded and seriously ill, in order to save their lives and release them from captivity as soon as possible.
It was noted that former prisoners of war could also provide important testimony about the crimes committed against them, particularly in Olenivka.
The parties also discussed the issue of honoring at the state level the memory of prisoners of war who were executed, tortured or died in captivity, in particular in Olenivka.