Zelenskyy at the meeting with Pope Francis: more than 400 women in Russian captivity, and at least 1700 civilians in total
Kyiv • UNN
The President of Ukraine informs the Pope about 1,700 civilians in Russian captivity, including more than 400 women. Zelenskyy invites a Vatican representative to a conference on the return of Ukrainian prisoners in Canada.
There are more than 400 women in captivity in Russia, and in total, according to confirmed data alone, there are 1700 civilians in captivity, but this number may be higher. This was announced by the President of Ukraine during a meeting with Pope Francis, inviting a representative of the Vatican to a conference on the return of captured and deported Ukrainians to be held on October 30-31 in Canada, UNN reports citing the Presidential Office.
We know that there are more than 400 women in captivity in Russia. It has been accurately confirmed through the International Committee of the Red Cross and other sources that 1700 civilians are in captivity. According to our data, this number may be significantly higher
Details
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Pope Francis at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.
The Head of State thanked His Holiness for his prayers for peace for Ukraine, spiritual closeness with Ukrainians, humanitarian assistance and participation of the Vatican in the first Peace Summit.
"Zelensky spoke about the work on the implementation of the Peace Formula, in particular about the ministerial conference on the return of captured and deported Ukrainians to be held in Canada on October 30-31. He invited a representative of the Vatican to take part in this event," the Presidential Administration said.
The President noted that there are wounded, seriously ill, women and children in Russian captivity.
"Russia continues to forcibly relocate our Ukrainian children from one occupied area to another. It also continues to deport our Ukrainian children to Russia. And it is extremely difficult to search for these children afterwards," the Head of State emphasized.
Separately, Zelensky emphasized the captured journalists and said that the day before it became known that Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna had died in Russian captivity.
Zelensky discusses return of captured Ukrainians with PopeOct 11 2024, 11:00 AM • 13484 views
He asked the pontiff to facilitate the return home of Ukrainian journalists, public figures, and community leaders from the occupied territory, all of whom had been captured. The meeting agreed that Ukraine would hand over a list of captured journalists.
The President emphasized that almost all those returning from captivity need medical care and long-term rehabilitation.
