Pope's special envoy becomes first foreign representative given physical access to Ukrainian POWs since 2022
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets says a foreign representative, Pope Leo XIV's special envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, has been physically allowed to see Ukrainian prisoners of war for the first time since the full-scale invasion began. Representatives of Russia's ombudsperson have also started visiting them.
Dmytro Lubinets, the human rights commissioner (ombudsman) of Ukraine's parliament, said on 24 October that a foreign representative has been physically allowed to reach Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia for the first time since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The person is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, special envoy of Pope Leo XIV.
Lubinets wrote on social media that he was informed of this separately. According to the ombudsman, the captive soldiers also confirmed that representatives of Russia's human rights commissioner have begun visiting them.
Talks on exchanges
Lubinets stressed that he regularly meets Russia's human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova. The day before his post, they again discussed next steps toward returning Ukrainian citizens. In his view, every exchange is the result of negotiations and offers a chance of progress on returning prisoners of war and civilians.
Previous exchange
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 terrorist attack in Olenivka in July 2022.
