The thirty Lugansk People’s Republic militiamen who have recently returned home were subjected to physical violence in Ukrainian captivity, LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova said.
The militiamen who were set free in the January 8 prisoner exchange with Ukraine have already reunited with their families.
“Immediately after the POW exchange, their received first aid in the territory of the Russian Federation and we learnt about their injuries. Many of them said that each POW had been physically abused at the very least and that there had been severe cases. Two of the returnees are in serious condition; we asked our medics to pay attention to them, they will receive emergency quality aid including possible surgical intervention,” the ombudsperson said.
LPR Acting Head Leonid Pasechnik earlier announced that 30 LPR militiamen were returning home following the January 8 prisoner exchange.
Pasechnik said that the Republic had brought home 65 fighters in the prisoner swaps with Ukraine during the New Year holidays.
LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova said that as of December 12, 2022, 150 LPR militiamen had returned from Ukrainian captivity since the beginning of the special military operation. Just before the New Year, the Republic got back another 41 servicemen including 37 LPR militiamen. The LPR ombudsperson said that more than 100 of them had been physically abused.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance. The LPR militia and Russian armed forces fully liberated the LPR territory from Ukrainian armed formations on July 3.
The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. The peace talks that began soon thereafter failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.
The Lugansk People’s Republic acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum.*i*v
