Sept. 6, 2024, 9:28 a.m.
(PHOTO: Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War)
The Coordination Center met with the families of the captured servicemen of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky. Both those who were present at the meeting and those who joined online spoke with representatives of the headquarters and the Ukrainian Navy.
This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Navy.
The relatives of the captured infantrymen primarily asked about the possibility of returning the defenders who have been in captivity for a long time. They also discussed establishing contact with the liberated defenders, as their testimonies about their captured comrades are of great importance for the search for missing soldiers.
The representative of the Staff explained the main approaches and mechanisms developed for the exchange of different categories of captured servicemen.
During the meeting, they discussed the places and conditions of detention of Ukrainian soldiers, as well as possible ways of communicating with them. The issue of the movement of marines between colonies in the aggressor country and the concealment of information about prisoners by the enemy was raised.
They also discussed the creation of a Public Council at the Coordination Headquarters, which will operate in all regions of the country.
At the end of August, Ukraine and Russia conducted the 55th exchange of prisoners. A total of 115 soldiers returned from Russian captivity.
All of the rescued prisoners were conscripts, including those who were captured during the heroic defense of their homeland in the first months of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
About 140 people also gathered at the rally to commemorate the missing soldiers and Ukrainian prisoners of war. Relatives and friends of the military have been waiting for their return for years. Some soldiers are officially considered missing and have not received any news for almost two years, but continue to hope for the return of their loved ones.
In July, the city held a rally and reminder event in support of missing persons and prisoners of war. About 300 people and 100 cars took part in the event. The rally was dedicated to the second anniversary of the terrorist attack in Olenivka.
The largest number of prisoners came from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky. A large number of boys and girls were captured in Mariupol.
Together with the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, we managed to return 3,310 Ukrainian citizens to Ukraine.
Vadym Zhepalo, a lawyer at the Southern Regional Center of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, says that relatives often go down the wrong path for years because they do not listen to what lawyers advise them, and he has had such cases with those he has consulted. An Intenta journalist visited the Center in Mykolaiv and talked to the lawyer about the<span><span><span><span><span><span>institution's</span></span></span></span></span></span> activities<span><span><span><span><span><span>.</span></span></span></span></span></span>