15 November 2026, 23:02
Lubinec explained the ban on disclosing evacuation figures from Oleshky
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SCREENSHOT: Dmytro Lubinets, Ombudsman of Ukraine
Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, confirmed that he personally agreed with the Russian side not to disclose the number of evacuated residents of Oleshky. According to him, this decision was made by mutual agreement.
Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported this in an interview with Dmytro Gordon.
According to the ombudsman, before the process began, neither side knew exactly how many people would decide to leave for territory controlled by Ukraine and how many would go to Russia. The agreement not to disclose the numbers and proportions was reached in order to prevent the evacuation from turning into a political contest and to avoid giving the parties grounds for sensational political statements.
“And every country—well, in this case—definitely didn’t want to look worse, yes, I’ll put it that way. And that’s precisely what probably sets me apart from Lantratova, because we aren’t politicians; we’re ombudsmen acting on behalf of politicians. In other words, politicians want to immediately show who’s better, make political statements, yes, and move on. We decided for ourselves not to provide additional ammunition for political competition,” the Human Rights Commissioner noted.
Lubinec emphasized that he will continue to adhere to this principle. He also called on public figures and commentators who are not involved in the process and do not have accurate information to refrain from spreading unverified statements, as this negatively affects the continuation of the humanitarian mission.
Read also:TeacherEvacuatedfrom Oleshky Dies in Kyiv
At the same time, the ombudsman declined to confirm or deny information previously published by one of the Russian “war correspondents” regarding 17 buses that allegedly traveled to Ukraine and 4 that went to Russia. Lubinec noted that the appearance of such information in the media itself demonstrated the genuine aspirations of people who have been living under occupation for more than four and a half years.
