Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets met with his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, in Belarus on Nov. 8 to discuss humanitarian issues related to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
The public meeting between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Belarus — Russia's ally, which has allowed the Kremlin to use its territory as a staging ground for its military operations against Ukraine — appears to be the first since March 2022.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also participated in the talks.
"I emphasize that I interacted with the Russian ombudsman to resolve humanitarian issues, return Ukrainians home, and obtain information about our citizens in Russia," Lubinets said.
During the meeting, the parties repatriated the bodies of fallen soldiers. Kyiv received 563 bodies, while Russia received 37.
The two ombudsmen introduced a new initiative, exchanging letters from Ukrainian relatives to Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Russia, according to Lubinets. They also exchanged lists of POWs visited by both sides.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the two countries have regularly exchanged prisoners, with the most recent swap occurring in mid-October, when each side returned 95 prisoners.
The exact number of Ukrainian troops and civilians held in Russian captivity has not been made public. In late June, Lubinets reported there were more than 14,000 Ukrainian civilians in captivity.
A 91-year-old woman was able to meet with her son as a result of the talks in Belarus, Lubinets added.
The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert