‘It is important to hear these stories first-hand.’ Canadian delegation led by the Speaker of the House of Commons meets with Ukrainians released from Russian detention
On 15 October, a meeting with a multi-party delegation of the Canadian Parliament, led by the Speaker of the House of Commons Greg Fergus, was held at the office of the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv. The foreign guests met with civilians and soldiers who had been in Russian captivity, their relatives and heard their stories. This meeting is strategically significant, as Canada will host a thematic conference on the fourth point of the Peace Formula, ‘Release of Prisoners and Deportees,’ on 30-31 October.
The Russian Federation is illegally detaining thousands of Ukrainian civilians in the occupied territories and in Russia. According to the Office of the Ombudsperson, these are more than 25,000 people. Unfortunately, the trend is growing, and the number of victims of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention is increasing. The Canadian delegation was informed about this and other crimes aimed at destroying the civilian population of Ukraine at the meeting.
‘During the occupation of settlements, we began to receive reports of civilians being abducted by the Russian military in the middle of the street and from their own homes. After the liberation of the occupied territories of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and part of Kherson regions, dozens of torture chambers and mass graves of civilians were found. Some of the captured people were taken by Russian troops to the territory of the Russian Federation (through Belarus or directly), to the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Crimea, where they are still being held,’ said Natalia Yashchuk, moderator of the meeting and Senior Program Manager at the Center for Civil Liberties.
Olena Yuzvak, a doctor at the Gostomel outpatient clinic in Kyiv Oblast, told her and her family’s story. In March 2022, she, her husband and son were abducted from their home in the city. A day later, Olena was thrown out in the middle of the street with a bag over her head after interrogation, and her husband, who was shot in the legs during the abduction, was taken to the Kursk detention center and returned in April during the mutual release. The son was taken to the Novozybkivske SIZO and is still being held, being transported to different places. According to the released men, he has serious health problems as a result of torture.
Prisoners of war and non-combatants, such as doctors, are also held in detention alongside civilians. Medical personnel enjoy a special status under the Geneva Conventions, but Russia is violating its obligations under international humanitarian law. This was stated at the meeting by Viktor Ivchuk, wife of the recently released military medic, commander of the Mariupol military hospital and hero of Ukraine, Viktor Ivchuk.
The members of the Canadian delegation, which included representatives of all parties, unanimously agreed that they would work together as a parliament to change the situation. The Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Greg Fergus, stressed that it is important to hear first-hand the stories of those who survived Russian captivity and what is happening in the occupied territories.
