Russia currently holding at least 20,000 Ukrainian civilians hostage

"The total number [of people] that the Russian Federation currently holds captive is simply insane. I can name the number of only those who have officially addressed me from among the relatives of civilian hostages held by the Russian Federation. This figure is more than 20,000. It is simply an incredible number of Ukrainian citizens whom Russia detained and is detaining for no reason in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights told the Ukrayinska Pravda online media outlet in an interview.

According to him, only during the occupation of Kyiv region in March 2022, the invaders took out about 800 civilians. "Only from among the residents of Kyiv region, and Kyiv region was under occupation for a relatively short time. During that time alone, the Russians took out about 800 civilians," Lubinets said.

He emphasized that it is currently unknown how many civilians are being held by the aggressor state because the relatives of Ukrainian civilians held by Russia are afraid of asking for help. Moreover, while part of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions and the whole of Crimea are under occupation, relatives who are there do not ask for help because they are afraid, the Ombudsman noted.

As reported, the Russian invaders intend to kidnap children from the temporarily captured Enerhodar.