“Another crime against humanity” – why didn't certain prisoners of war come home?

The deputy head of the Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war announced journalists on Sunday that Moscow had incorrectly excluded a number of Ukrainian prisoners who were able to pay the Russian team for the 1,000-to-1,000 claims over the weekend.

Andrii Yusov said that the exchange, which was agreed in the peace talks in Turkey at the beginning of this month, was based on mutual lists: the Russian team found who it was ready to hand over Ukraine, and vice versa.

But the Kremlin refused to brand certain soldiers and civilians as prisoners of war, with some of them being captured in Gulags or since the Russian annexation of the Crimea in Gulags for almost nine years.

His department stood primarily from the commander of the infamous Azov brigade and the family members of those who are known to defend the besieged steel mill in Mariupol.

In March, a Russian Court of Court condemned a group of Ukrainian prisoners, including soldiers and ex-soldiers from the Azov Brigade, for prisoners of up to 23 years of charges for “terrorism” and others. The group was captured early in Moscow in Ukraine.

According to the Attorney General, the military court in Rostov-on-Don awarded the hardest colonies from 13 to 23 years of age with the toughest conditions.

The Azov Brigade was founded in 2014 in the city of Mariupol as a paramilitary group in connection with right -wing extremist nationalist movements. It later became part of the National Guard of Ukraine. Russia accuses the unit of being neo -Nazi, but the United States increased a ban on the care of ASOV with weapons last year, and said it has not found any evidence of human rights violations.

Colonel Denys Prokopenko, commander of the brigade, complained publicly that not a single Azov fighter was recorded in the recent three-day exchange of the prisoners, and claimed that the Ukrainian authorities are not interested in bringing them home.

Yusov pushed back on Prokopo's accusations on Sunday.

“Every person in Russian captivity has to be brought back, “he said.” Ukraine is fighting for each of its citizens. Due to the full invasion, we work under extremely difficult conditions and the Mariupol Garrison remains one of our top priorities for the return. “

He explained that His Moscow colleagues told him that certain prisoners “are not a prisoner of war and cannot be exchanged in exchange”.

“So there are many rejections, but the fact remains. This is a violation of international humanitarian law, another crime against humanity. And each of them has to return home.”

A 25-against-25 pow exchange on January 15, 2025, he was recently reported that the recorded defenders were returned by Mariupol.