Pope's special envoy granted access to Ukrainian prisoners of war for first time since 2022
Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets says a foreign representative, Pope Leo XIV's special envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, has been physically allowed to see Ukrainian POWs held by Russia for the first time since the full-scale war began.
Dmytro Lubinets, the human rights commissioner of Ukraine's parliament (the Verkhovna Rada), has announced that a foreign representative has been physically allowed to visit Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia for the first time since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The visitor was Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, special envoy of Pope Leo XIV. Lubinets made the statement on his social media accounts.
The ombudsman said he had been informed of the visit separately. According to him, the Ukrainian defenders in captivity also confirmed that representatives of Russia's human rights commissioner's office have begun visiting them.
Talks on returning Ukrainians
Lubinets said he regularly meets Russia's human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova. The day before his statement, they again discussed next steps toward bringing Ukrainian citizens home. In his words, every exchange is the result of negotiations, and it offers a chance of progress in returning Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians.
What happened earlier
On Friday, 23 October, 270 military personnel and civilians returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity. Those freed included defenders of Mariupol and five people who survived the Russian attack on Olenivka in July 2022, which Ukraine describes as a terrorist act.
