Families of Ukrainian POWs have held protests urging Kyiv to remain committed to their release.A Ukrainian official said they believe Russia is purposefully using POWs to sow unrest.One wife of a POW said her husband called her and said to “go make things hard for Kyiv.”
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Families of Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia have staged protests in several cities urging the government to work on their release. According to a new report, Russia may be purposefully using the POWs to foment distrust of Kyiv.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken as prisoners of war. Some 4,000 are still being held months after they were taken, with nearly half of them being captured last year while trying to defend Mariupol in southern Ukraine, CNBC reported.
Relatives and activists are holding a rally in Sofiiska Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on December 23, 2023, in support of Ukrainian POWs who are being held in Russian captivity.
Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty Images
A Ukrainian official told Politico that some families have received calls from their loved ones held in Russia that appear to be aimed at sowing unrest back home.
“A person has not heard from a relative for more than a year, and here he calls and says that he is alive. Russians are ready to exchange him, but Ukraine does nothing,” Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson for Ukraine staff dealing with prisoners of war, told the outlet. “Recently these calls became massive. So, we understood that this is a campaign to cause distrust in the government.”
Protesters in Odesa, Ukraine, on December 24, 2023, hold placards and banners during a march in support of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Viacheslav Onyshchenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The wife of a Ukrainian POW held in Russia told Politico she recently heard from her husband, who was captured on February 24, 2022, the first day of the invasion. Despite barely hearing word of her husband, she received a video call from him in November.
“It was Serhii. We talked only for three minutes. I was not allowed to ask him questions. As soon as I tried, he shook his head and just said no,” Valentyna Tkachenko told Politico. “Instead, he kept saying: ‘Valya, go make things hard for Kyiv. Kyiv does not want to take us back,'” Tkachenko recalled. “Then he said he was sorry and ended the call, promising to call me back if he ever has a chance.”
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