Hungary actually holding captive Ukrainian soldiers who handed over to it by Russia – Lubinets

 Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, said this during the telethon “United News”, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“In fact, they are in isolation, they have a limited circle of communication, their cell phones have been taken away. We know that some of them have been visited by relatives. Again, we don’t know how the communication took place, how long it lasted, the details,” the ombudsman said.

Answering the question of what Ukraine is doing to bring these soldiers home, Lubinets said that first of all, Ukrainian diplomats are working on this issue.

“We are really trying to establish contact with eight former prisoners of war, citizens of Ukraine. We know where they are, but we do not understand Hungary’s position, why our diplomats have not been allowed to see them so far. And we don’t know why these Ukrainian citizens, being on the territory of Hungary, are actually in the same position as prisoners of war,” said the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.

He informed that Hungary had violated international humanitarian law, because it is not possible to simply take prisoners of war from the territory of the Russian Federation.

“Even if they had some humanitarian reasons, first of all, they should have informed Ukraine. Secondly, they had to inform the ICRC. This morning I had a separate meeting with the head of the ICRC mission in Ukraine, where I asked the question: did Hungary or Russia receive information about the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war to the territory of Hungary? The answer was that they had learned about it only through public channels, when this information appeared in the media,” the ombudsman said.

He also explained that these people are considered prisoners of war on the territory controlled by one of the parties to the international military conflict, i.e., the Russian Federation.

“As soon as the Russian Federation transferred them to the territory of Hungary, even in violation of international humanitarian law, they are no longer legally considered prisoners of war,” Lubinets said.

The Ombudsman said that the Ukrainian military no longer have the legal status of prisoners of war, but in fact Hungary treats them as prisoners of war: “Then I don’t understand why they are restricting them. They are free citizens. They have not committed any criminal offenses. Why Hungary does not allow Ukrainian diplomats to visit them is also unknown to us.”

As an example, the Ombudsman cited the situation with Turkey, which initiated the return of our prisoners of war. According to him, the authorities of this country immediately informed Ukraine, and Ukraine was involved in the negotiations, and the entire transfer of Ukrainian servicemen from Russia to Turkey was accompanied by the Ukrainian side.

“There, on the territory of Turkey, they immediately granted access to diplomats and gave the Ukrainian authorities the opportunity to meet. That is, they showed that the state is really concerned about the rights of former prisoners of war. Instead, Hungary continues to behave like a subdivision of the Russian Federation, where it also holds our military in captivity, in a restricted, closed state, without any explanation,” he said.

Answering the question whether he knew how these soldiers got to the territory of Hungary, the Ombudsman noted that he was not currently aware of this.

“I have written a letter on this fact to the Hungarian Ombudsman and the Russian Ombudsman separately to inform them how – strangely – the Ukrainian prisoners of war – by air, or who transferred them – from the territory of the Russian Federation ended up in Hungary. I am waiting for a response,” Lubinets said.

As reported, on June 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine invited the Chargé d’Affaires of Hungary and handed him an appeal demanding detailed information about the Ukrainian prisoners of war transferred by Russia to Budapest and immediate access to them for the consul.

It was also reported that the Ukrainian government was not informed of the relevant negotiations between the Hungarian and Russian sides. The Ukrainian side learned that Russia had handed over eleven Ukrainians with Hungarian origin to Budapest from public statements by Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Szemien to the Hungarian media.

Currently, with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Hungary, three Ukrainian citizens among the prisoners of war transferred to Hungary have returned to Ukraine.