Russia is illegally detaining more than 14,000 Ukrainians, the ombudsman said

Russia is illegally detaining more than 14,000 Ukrainian citizens. The work of returning civilians is the most difficult.

Human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubints reports about this: “Returning three categories of citizens of Ukraine – children, prisoners of war, civilians – it is the most difficult work with regard to civilians.”

As the ombudsman explained, in the case of the return of civilians, there is no question of exchange, as in the case of prisoners of war.

“We cannot change them, we do not have any additional influence on the Russian Federation directly. We do not even have a legal basis on the basis of which we can conduct this process,” Lubinets added.

Commenting on the recent release of civilians, the ombudsman noted that this was the first time that the Vatican was involved in the return. In the past, the Vatican assisted in the return of children.

Due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, 551 children died in Ukraine

Due to the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine, 1,962 children were injured, 551 children, unfortunately, died.

This was reported in the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

“More than 1,962 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. As of the morning of June 29, 2024, according to the official information of juvenile prosecutors, 551 children died and more than 1,411 were injured of varying degrees of severity,” the Prosecutor General’s message reads.

Children were most affected in the following regions:

Donetsk – 550;

Kharkivska – 399;

Khersonska – 154;

Dnipropetrovsk – 152;

Kyivska – 130.

Also, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on the latest shelling by the troops of the occupier of Ukrainian settlements, where children were injured:

On June 26, a 17-year-old girl and two boys aged 12 and 15 were injured in the city of Dergachi, Kharkiv region;

On June 26, two girls aged 12 and 15 were injured in the urban-type village of Antonivka, Kherson region;

On June 27, a 17-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl were injured in the city of Selidove, Donetsk region;

On June 28, an 8-year-old girl was injured in the urban-type village of New York, Donetsk region;

On June 28, a seven-month-old baby was injured in the city of Dnipro.