Vatican working to bring Ukrainians back from Russia: Ambassador outlines main obstacles
Photo: Apostolic Nuncio Visvaldas Kulbokas (rkc.org.ua)
The Vatican is helping to return Ukrainian prisoners and children from Russia. But the Vatican says there are problems with that, especially financial, notes Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican ambassador) to Ukraine Visvaldas Kulbokas in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“The intentions are good, but as I mentioned, the system itself is underdeveloped because this is a very complex issue. With Russia, it's not enough for a personal representative of the Pope, like Cardinal Zuppi (the Pope's special envoy regarding the return of Ukrainian prisoners and children deported by Moscow – ed.), to deliver lists, issues, and requests, and even meet, he visited Moscow twice. This is not enough,” he said.
The Vatican ambassador believes that a team is needed to mediate the return of prisoners. He added that some countries have more financial capabilities, and exchanges are easier when there is a system and a country that provides financial and logistical assistance.
“The Holy See sounds very good, but even when it comes to financial resources, they are not always available,” said Visvaldas Kulbokas.
The Apostolic Nuncio noted that the same applies to the return of children. As an example, he mentioned the assistance of Qatar, which provides airplanes, evacuates children, and gives them the opportunity to rest somewhere before they are transported from Russia to Qatar or directly to Ukraine.
“In this sense, it's not enough to just have the intention and the people working on this; there needs to be a whole system – finances and teams. I would say that there are still not enough efforts to achieve more results,” he explained.
POWs exchange
On May 6, Ukraine and Russia conducted a new major prisoner exchange. A total of 205 Ukrainian soldiers returned home from Russian captivity.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the exchange took place with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned earlier the Vatican's assistance in returning Ukrainians from Russian captivity. The Vatican mediated the return of civilians in June 2024. At that time, Nariman Dzhelyal, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, was released from captivity. Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levytskyi, priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church were also among the released. They were captured in Berdiansk for resisting the occupiers.
