Occupants exchange prisoners taken from Kherson and Mykolaiv regions at the beginning of the war

The Russian Federation has included prisoners from Kherson and Mykolaiv regions in a large-scale prisoner exchange that took place from May 23 to 25.

This was reported by Suspilne with reference to the human rights organization "Protection of Prisoners of Ukraine".

According to the organization, each side handed over 1000 people: 880 military and 120 civilians. Of particular note is the fact that more than half of the returned civilians are former convicts of crimes not related to the war. At least 15 of them were previously held in colonies in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. After the retreat of Russian troops in 2022, these people were taken to Russia and now they have been transferred to Ukraine as part of an exchange.

Also among those released are about 50 Ukrainians who were held in Russian prisons on various charges. Upon completion of their sentences, they were not deported, as provided by law, but left in temporary detention centers for migrants. According to human rights activists, some of them were offered to go to the front in exchange for freedom and Russian citizenship. Those who refused remained in captivity for years.

Many of those who returned to Ukraine were left virtually destitute - without documents, without money, sometimes even without an identity card. Some were given only photocopies of their passports, while others did not receive any certificates.

The head of the human rights organization, Oleh Tsvilyi, emphasizes that these people are citizens of Ukraine who refused to cooperate with the enemy and deserve respect, despite their criminal past. He calls on Ukrainian society not to condemn them, but rather to support them.

"Russia is a terrorist country. They kidnapped these people in order to trade them. Previously, this category of people was deported through Georgia. They would leave and get there on their own way. And now the command was given from the top to hold them in order to use them in this way. Of course, it's bad that they did this, because they should have let these people go anyway, not on any conditions," the human rights activist explained.

Ірина Глухова