Seriously wounded, women, defenders of Azovstal will be returned from captivity as priority – Budanov

He said that Ukraine will try to return from captivity as a priority:

• all seriously wounded and seriously ill;
• all women;
• all those who have been in captivity for a long time;
• special attention to the return of all those who defended Azovstal in Mariupol;
• all civilian prisoners - both before and after the full-scale war.

According to Budanov, there are people who have been in captivity for 10 years. In particular, the Russians are targeting the Crimean Tatars and other groups.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the UAE is currently helping Ukraine with exchanges. However, a number of other countries are secretly strengthening Kyiv’s position.

In order to improve communication with the families of prisoners, an ombudsman's office will be opened in each regional center on the premises of the Office of the Ombudsman. Now they actually operate in Kyiv and four regions. Lubinets also promises to hold weekly meetings with the families of prisoners of war.

According to the results of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief General Staff meeting, the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine approved the vertical work on prisoners. The following will be created:

• The Presidium of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War is a coordinating body that will include the heads of the structures involved in the work of the Coordination Headquarters;
• The Public Council is a council of public organizations that represent the interests of prisoners.

In addition, the negotiating group, which is engaged in the preparation of exchanges on behalf of the Coordination Staff, will be expanded - it will include representatives of the SBU, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Armed Forces, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Human Rights Ombudsman.

When is the exchange planned?

Against the background of the Ukrainian advance in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, the Ukrainian military is actively capturing Russian soldiers. For example, on August 14, the SBU captured 102 Russians in Kursk Oblast, in particular from the 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Akhmat unit. This is the most massive capture of the enemy that was carried out at one time.

The head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, noted that the service is already thinking about how to "use this as effectively as possible" to bring Ukrainian defenders home. Currently, military counter-intelligence and SBU investigators are working with the captured Russians. In particular, to document the war crimes committed by them during the war in Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that Ukraine's military operation in Kursk Oblast forced Russia to take the initiative to resume negotiations on the exchange of prisoners.