Feb. 15, 2025, 2:01 p.m.
Seven former prisoners who were deported from Kherson region by the Russian occupiers after the seizure of the region have been staying in Tbilisi for several weeks without housing and means of subsistence. They are waiting for documents to be processed for their return to Ukraine, but they are in a critical situation.
This was reported by Radio Liberty.
Among the victims is Oleksiy Spitsyn, who was in the Kherson colony during the full-scale invasion. He and other prisoners were forcibly taken to Russia, then transferred to Crimea, where, according to Russian law, their sentences were reduced and they were released without documents.
"We were left with nothing - no money, no roof over our heads. Volunteers can no longer support us. We want to return home," said Spitsyn.
Human rights activist Anna Skrypka notes that NGOs that used to help deported Ukrainians no longer have funding. Attempts to get support from the Ukrainian government have so far failed.
"These people are stuck in Georgia because of bureaucratic obstacles. We have appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy and the ombudsman, but have not yet received a response," the human rights activist said.
According to the Ministry of Justice, after the occupation, the Russians forcibly transferred more than two thousand Ukrainian prisoners to Russia. Such actions are treated by international law as illegal deportation. Now some of these people cannot return home due to lack of documents and support.
Meanwhile, a former employee of the penal colony in Kherson will be tried for collaboration with the occupiers and violation of the laws of war.
Earlier, Intent reported about a former employee of the Northern Correctional Colony No. 90 who went over to the enemy and carried out criminal orders and instructions of the occupiers for money.
In the fall of 2023, the Center for Public Investigations released a film "Who Kidnapped the Prisoners of the Snihurivska Correctional Colony in the Village of Tsentralne".
Ірина Глухова