Silence from Russia on Ukrainian POWs’ health

That’s according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Ukrinform reports.

A video conference meeting was held at the Coordination Headquarters with the families of Ukrainian Navy servicemen.

Relatives of captured defenders inquired about any updates on the locations where their loved ones are held. According to the HQ official, the aggressor state never officially reports the whereabouts of prisoners of war: this applies both to places of detention in Russia and on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories. The situation is similar as regards information about the POWs’ state of health – there is no official information coming from the Russian side.

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The Coordination HQ spokesman noted that a significant amount of important information is being clected and passed on to families of missing and captured servicemen. Also, defenders released from captivity provide valuable updates about the state of health and likely places of detention.

Separately, the representative of the HQ drew attention to the issue of information security. He urged family members of prisoners of war to be vigilant when receiving information from dubious, unverified sources. "Russia is trying to influence Ukrainian society in any way, including through manipulations in the information space," the HQ spokesman emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russians usually return the bodies of fallen Ukrainian defenders during exchanges, but there are cases where it is possible to agree on this without prior conditions.