Russia is using the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war to discredit Ukraine — Lubinets
This was reported by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights.
According to the Ombudsman, Russian representatives are contacting the relatives of captured Ukrainian servicemen directly via phone calls and messages, promising to help organise prisoner exchanges.
Instead, families are being asked to send provocative letters to Ukrainian authorities, US institutions and international organisations. To this end, the Russian side is providing ready-made templates containing false accusations against Ukraine.
“Relatives are being forced to spread false claims that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly not working to secure the return of prisoners of war,” Lubinets noted.
After such letters are sent, Russian coordinators demand photographic proof. According to the Ombudsman, these materials are intended for use in international information campaigns against Ukraine.
Lubinec emphasised that this scheme is part of a coordinated Russian information operation and has no connection whatsoever to the actual prisoner exchange process.
Reports of psychological pressure on families emerged shortly after the first phase of a large-scale “1,000 for 1,000” exchange, during which 205 Ukrainian servicemen were successfully returned from Russian captivity.
According to the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, most of those released had spent nearly four years in captivity. Among them were defenders of Mariupol, as well as servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and other units of Ukraine’s defence forces.
Separately, the Ukrainian side reported that a delegation of representatives from 20 countries and seven international organisations visited the humanitarian corridor in the Volyn region, through which civilians are returning from the temporarily occupied territories via Russia and Belarus. Foreign diplomats were shown how the assistance centre operates, where people are provided with documents, transport, humanitarian aid and coordination support.
As a reminder, it was previously reported that there has been an increase in fake ‘SBU officers’ in Ukraine. The Service explained how the fraudsters operate.
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