Ukraine proposes allowing POWs make phone calls
Dmytro Lubinets / Telegram
Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets proposed during talks
with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, that Ukraine and Russia allow prisoners
of war to make phone calls to their families, Lubinets said on July 1.
According to Ukrainian broadcaster Hromadnske, Lubinets said that the calls would let each prisoner speak with family and loved ones "for no less than three minutes." He said the arrangement should apply equally to Ukrainian and Russian POWs.
During a June 5 contact with Lantratova, Lubinets also asked her to monitor the conditions in which Ukrainian prisoners are held; she agreed to do so.
Lubinets said he handed Lantratova a list of 1,500 people reported missing; the Russian side provided a list of 1,000 of its citizens. He said that with the help of Lantratova’s predecessor, Tatiana Moskalkova, authorities verified 194 Ukrainians who had been listed as missing. Lubinets said he hopes to continue such cooperation with the current Russian commissioner.
At another meeting Lubinets delivered a letter from families of servicemen killed in Olenivka and urged the urgent return of 46 Ukrainian soldiers who were wounded in Olenivka and remain in captivity.
The two also began cooperating to secure pension rights for Ukrainians who worked in Russia during the Soviet era and accumulated service there. Lantratova accepted the first request concerning three Ukrainian citizens to help them obtain documents proving their accumulated service records.
"There have been many such appeals, but until today
there was no legal mechanism to exchange documents for pension provision. Now
with Lantratova we have this instrument," Lubinets said, adding that
Lantratova also passed him several relevant requests.
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