Not POWs: Expert reveals key fact about return of Ukrainian civilians from Russia
Photo: Civilians held by Russia are not prisoners of war, they are hostages (facebook.com zelenskyy.official)
The return of Ukrainian civilians from Russia should not be equated with a prisoner of war exchange. According to international law, we’re talking about hostages, and this distinction is crucial for holding Russia accountable in the future, said historian and diplomat Roman Bezsmertnyi in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine’s YouTube channel.
"A POW exchange is a very positive development, as is the repatriation of the deceased. But notice something: right after that, we see exchanges of civilians. What kind of civilians is Ukraine handing over to Russia?"
Bezsmertnyi emphasized that many of the so-called Ukrainian civilians being sent to Russia are, in fact, saboteurs and shouldn’t be classified as civilians. At the same time, he stressed that the civilians Russia returns to Ukraine are not POWs and not regular civilians either.
"From the standpoint of both international and national law, they are hostages, just like the abducted children. So what does that mean in this context? It means that this entire negotiation process is covering up Russia’s crimes, as they took hostages, essentially civilians," he explained.
According to Bezsmertnyi, accepting Russia’s narrative that hostages are merely prisoners will only complicate Russia's responsibility for the hostages in the future.
"Especially in categories like women, children, the elderly, and so on. Therefore, you need to be very careful here," he added.
He insisted that while it’s absolutely necessary to bring these people home, we must use the correct legal terminology.
"We must call them hostages. We need to talk about the return of hostages, not prisoners, to build the right legal framework for future court cases and potential tribunals," the expert said.
Negotiations in Istanbul
Yesterday, July 23, Ukrainian and Russian delegations held the third round of negotiations. Like the previous ones, it took place in Türkiye, Istanbul.
Before the meetings began, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Ankara is ready to help monitor a ceasefire in Ukraine. According to him, Türkiye already has the necessary infrastructure to do so.
Russian media circulated rumors about a supposed bilateral meeting between the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, and the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky. However, it later turned out to be fake.
As Rustem Umerov later clarified, one of Ukraine's key priorities during the talks was to continue the humanitarian track, which involves the return of all Ukrainian prisoners, including civilians and children who were illegally taken to Russia.
According to Umerov, the only obstacle is the lack of a political decision in the Kremlin to implement a ceasefire as early as today.
More details about the new round of negotiations in Istanbul can be found in the material by RBC-Ukraine.
