Lubinets seeks foreign ombudsmen access to pows

During the latest prisoner exchange, Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets discussed with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, the idea of establishing a monitoring group involving ombudsmen from other countries.

Lubinets spoke about this on television, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

“Separately, we discussed today the issue of launching a new monitoring group composed of ombudsmen from foreign countries. I raised this issue at our previous meeting. Today, for the first time, I received what appears to be positive feedback from the Russian side, indicating that they are ready to consider candidates for foreign ombudsmen who could potentially travel to the territory of the Russian Federation and gain access to Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Lubinets said.

He also noted that the parties continued negotiations regarding the possibility of prisoners of war making phone calls to their families.

“We constantly have technical problems with sending postcards. And at the very first meeting, I suggested: ‘Let’s just give prisoners of war the opportunity to call their families.’ Let it be once a month, lasting three minutes. If the Russian side starts doing this for Ukrainian prisoners of war, we will automatically start doing it for Russian ones. Regardless of the number, the main thing is that all prisoners have this opportunity once a month to call and hear the voices of their loved ones,” noted the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner.

As reported, the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner in the Russian Federation has determined the whereabouts of 79 Ukrainian servicemen who are considered missing under special circumstances.

Photo: Dmytro Lubinets, Telegram