The abduction of civilians is evidence that the Russian war against Ukraine is genocidal, says Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, UkrInform reports.
On 28 June, Ukraine returned ten of its citizens from Russian captivity, including Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Nariman Dzhelal and priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church captured in Berdiansk.
"The fact that we are discussing today the return of civilian hostages detained by Russia is glaring proof to the world that the Russian war is genocidal, that the enemy has committed war crimes and ignores international humanitarian law.
These people should not have been in any captivity, and their rights should not have been restricted. Their fault lies in their refusal to surrender to Russian occupation," Yusov said.
Deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Nariman Dzhelal, faced persecution for not abandoning his identity, and one of the civilians - Olena Bekh, is a museum employee and a lecturer.
"These are people who should not have ended up in Russian captivity. The fact that today we are talking about thousands, without exaggeration, of Ukrainian civilians in Russian captivity is a massive war crime by Putin's Russia," Yusov emphasized.
He said that since the onset of Russia's war, Ukraine returned 3,310 of its citizens back home under the coordination of the Prisoner Exchange Coordination Staff, mostly military personnel but also civilians.
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