28,000 Ukrainian civilians remain in Russian captivity - Lubinets

As many as 28,000 Ukrainian civilians are held captive by the Russian Federation.

Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said this during the international human rights conference "Freedom or Fear," according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Civilian hostages are, in my opinion, a new system of suppressing the civilian population in the temporarily occupied territory. As of now, 28,000 confirmed citizens of Ukraine are held captive by the Russian Federation," he said.

According to him, the Ukrainian authorities cannot check their condition, get access to Russian prisons and provide them with medicines.

"A separate list from among these 28,000 is 2,000 citizens of Ukraine older than 65 years. There are cases when Ukrainians over 80-85 years of age are captured only for their pro-Ukrainian statements. And again, we cannot do anything with it," the ombudsman said.

Lubinets called on the international community to help the Ukrainian state protect its citizens and return them home.

Lubinets said earlier that Ukraine had already returned 2,598 military personnel and civilians home.