Ukraine returns 7 civilians unlawfully held by Russia 'for years', ombudsman says
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Ukraine has secured the return of seven civilians who had been unlawfully held by Russia "for years," Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets announced on June 27.
The returned civilians, aged between 35 and 66, were detained by Russian forces during the occupation of Mariupol and parts of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts in 2022.
"After years of unlawful detention by Russia, our people are finally home and can breathe free Ukrainian air," the ombudsman wrote in a Telegram post.
According to Lubinets, one of the civilians was abducted from his home because his sons serve in Ukraine's military, while another was seized on his way to work on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The group also includes a volunteer who joined Tyra's Angels medical evacuation unit in Mariupol in 2022 and was detained on the same day as its commander, Yuliia Paievska, call sign "Taira", who was released in 2022.
Russia's Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said that seven Russian civilians also returned to Russia as part of the exchange. Among them, five civilians were from Russia's Kursk Oblast, parts of which were briefly held by Ukrainian forces in 2024.
Lubinets said the return was made possible through direct negotiations with Lantratova. She replaced Tatyana Moskalkova as Russia's human rights commissioner in May, and Lubinets has since said communication with the new Russian ombudsman "has started from scratch."
Lubinets also thanked Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the Foreign Intelligence Service, and other agencies involved in the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, adding that Ukraine would continue efforts to bring home all civilians and military personnel held by Russia.
The return comes a day after Ukraine brought home 160 prisoners of war in one of the latest prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Moscow, one of the few remaining channels of communication between the two countries.
Previously, Moscow released seven Ukrainian civilians from captivity on Feb. 5.
