The Ukrainian special services have created a project to return Ukrainians from Russian captivity called Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people). The project will make it possible to transfer information about traitors and their exchange for Ukrainian citizens.
Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said this at a press conference, LB.ua reported.
On 25 July, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which includes the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, presented the joint state project Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people) - hochuksvoim.com.
‘The first goal of the project is to publish information on convicted Russian collaborators, agents, traitors who collaborated or assisted the Russian occupation forces in the war against Ukraine on the website Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people),’ Yusov explained.
According to him, the website will also have an option called ‘consent to exchange’, when a convicted collaborator will be able to agree to be exchanged for our citizens from Russian captivity.
‘Another goal of the project is to use a special form on the website to enable Ukrainian citizens who, for one reason or another, are still collaborating with the enemy to stop such activities under certain conditions. The third goal is to enable Ukrainian citizens who have any information about the activities of enemy agents to share it through a special form on the website. Another goal of this humanitarian initiative is to help citizens who, for whatever reason, want to travel to Russia, to apply through the website using a special form,’ he added.
At the same time, SBU spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko reminded that 54 exchanges have taken place since the start of the full-scale invasion, resulting in the return of 3,405 Ukrainian citizens.
‘And we continue to work to fulfil the President's order to return every Ukrainian home. An important aspect is that we are working not only on the return of military personnel, but also civilians, because the Russian Federation systematically violates the laws and customs of war by taking civilians prisoner. Therefore, the Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people) project is an additional opportunity to facilitate exchanges,’ he stressed.
As an example, he recalled the exchange of a clergyman and a traitor for 28 Ukrainian servicemen.
‘We are constantly increasing the exchange fund, which makes it possible to return more military and civilian citizens of Ukraine. That is why the SBU's enormous daily work is behind the project Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people), he stressed.
Tetyana Shelest, Director of the Department of Information Policy, Communication and Protocol Activities of the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, added that the situation with the return of Ukrainian civilians from Russian prisons is extremely difficult.
‘We managed to return 161 Ukrainian citizens (civilians). The last return took place on 28 June. The problem is that there is no clearly defined mechanism for the return of civilians. Ukrainians have remained in Russian prisons since 2014, when Russia detained Ukrainian citizens in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions. And after the start of the full-scale invasion, it detained our citizens in all territories that were or are under enemy occupation. Therefore, civilians are the most difficult category to return... That is why the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine has joined the project Khochu k svoim (Want to return home/Want to join my people), which will help return our citizens,’ she stressed.