According to the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 403 Ukrainian women, many of them civilians, are currently being held captive by Russia.
The conditions of their detention reportedly do not comply with the Third Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. “Released prisoners of war among women claim humiliation, inhumane conditions of detention, insufficient nutrition, inability to receive qualified medical assistance and contact relatives,” the statement reports
Ukraine has repeatedly proposed that Russia release women as a priority, but Russian representatives engage in manipulation, including publishing various lists.
“Women, like seriously wounded and seriously ill, must be released from captivity or repatriated to neutral countries as a matter of priority under international humanitarian law. Instead, official representatives of Russia pretend not to have read the international agreements signed by their country and do not intend to implement them,” the Coordinating Headquarters emphasized.
The agency also noted that Russians continue to deny International Committee of the Red Cross representatives access to places where prisoners and over 100 civilians are being held in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine.
The Ministry of Reintegration reported in June 2023 that 126 women were held in Russian captivity, 80 of whom were civilians.
The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said in March 2024 that almost 40 percent of those Ukrainian citizens who had already been returned home from Russia were considered missing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in May 2024 that he did not rule out an “all-for-all” prisoner exchange before the end of the war.
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