President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with members of the families of fallen defenders of Ukraine and missing citizens. The parties discussed the issues of social and medical support for the families of the victims, efficient rehabilitation of war veterans, expanding the list of benefits and problems in compliance with existing benefits for the families of heroes, the need to install memorials to fallen soldiers in the regions, repair housing, as well as the issue of justice in the payment of compensations.
"Our meeting with you today is not a tradition. I believe that this is our duty, the duty of the authorities. We are ready to do everything we can for you and for the memory of the fallen heroes - really the best people who gave the most precious thing they have. Their life," the President said at the beginning of the meeting.
On the eve of the International Day of the Disappeared, the work of the Commission on the Disappeared in Special Circumstances was raised, as well as the issue of the Unified Register of Missing Persons, the development and approval of a single exhumation protocol, mandatory psychological support for the families of the deceased, disappeared and captives.
"When the Commission on the Disappeared under the Cabinet of Ministers starts working, it means that registers of missing persons by categories will be created. In the seventh year of the war, we still do not have registers of missing persons,” curator of the 40th Kryvbas Battalion and coordinator of the working group at the President's Office for missing persons in Donbas and military and civilian hostages (captives) Mykola Kolesnyk said.
At the same time, he supported the position of the President of Ukraine on the need to know the truth about those responsible for the Ilovaisk tragedy. And the court has to do it.
"We have heard many versions - true or false. No one is not a court, no one is not the final authority. A transparent, open trial so that the whole country, every conscious Ukrainian could get an answer to what happened in Ilovaisk. Who agreed on that corridor, why criminal cases against those who shot our fighters in that corridor haven’t been initiated,” Mykola Kolesnyk emphasized.
In addition, the parties discussed the issue of returning people illegally detained in the temporarily occupied territories and in Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is working to do so as soon as possible.
"We really include everyone for mutual release. There is no such thing that we include only civilians. It is not true. Believe me,” the President addressed the participants of the meeting.
"We will return everyone: both alive and dead. In any case," Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
Separately, members of the families of the dead and missing persons thanked the President for such meetings, which are constantly held to address all pressing issues.
