Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said that he spoke with Russian Ombudswoman Yana Lantratova for 15 hours during a humanitarian mission to Oleshky. The sides discussed future humanitarian missions, prisoner exchanges, the return of civilians, and the search for missing persons, UNN reports.
"This was the first time I had such an experience: from four in the morning, when we set off in a humanitarian convoy to Oleshky, until approximately 19:00. So, essentially, 15 hours on the same bus (with Lantratova — ed.). These were arrangements to ensure security; that is, the same bus carried the entire Ukrainian (delegation — ed.) and American journalists, as well as Lantratova herself. Moreover, the bus was neither at the beginning nor at the end of the convoy. It was in the middle; it was not marked separately, and this was done deliberately, once again — to ensure the security of the entire convoy. When you travel with a person for 15 hours, sitting across the aisle, but still — you travel for 15 hours and communicate. For me, this was an opportunity for difficult communication. You could say that we held 15-hour talks with Lantratova," Dmytro Lubinets said during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigative Commission.
According to him, during the lengthy conversation, the sides raised a whole range of important issues.
"We raised all the issues there: possible future humanitarian missions, exchange processes, the return of civilians, specific categories of verifications, specific mechanisms for searching for missing persons, and now we have already begun working on the transfer of packages for Ukrainian prisoners of war. Access to Ukrainian prisoners of war by representatives of foreign countries; the launch of a potential international mission that could consist of ombudspersons from various countries who could come and inspect the places and conditions of detention of both prisoners of war and civilians. In other words, we discussed a great many initiatives. We have already begun working on some of them, while for others we are already considering how to put them into practice, so it is clear that after this, communication is much better, more productive, and probably easier to perceive, both for me personally and for her personally," the official added.
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Ukraine is working on an additional safe exit for civilians from the temporarily occupied city of Oleshky and neighboring settlements.