Hundreds, if not thousands, of Ukrainian civilians are still held hostage in Russian captivity. Retrieving such individuals is indeed quite difficult, and the mechanism for doing so has not yet been established. Furthermore, Russians often classify civilians as prisoners of war. How to repatriate them to Ukraine and why this process is dragging on — read in the article. Correspondent of 24 Kanal in Brussels, Sofia Nazarenko, spoke with three Ukrainians about how Russians treat civilian hostages who have been kidnapped, as well as the attempts to create a separate mechanism for their liberation. She also learned about the difficulties the state faces during this process and how the Red Cross operates. Who in Ukraine is responsible for the issue of liberating civilian hostages and why is it such a complex process? On the Ukrainian side, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, together with the Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, are working on the matter of returning civilian hostages. In a comment to 24 Kanal, Petro Yatsenko, the head of the press service of the Coordination Headquarters, noted that since the start of the full-scale invasion in temporarily occupied territories, Russia has unrestricted ability to detain civilians, although this contradicts all norms of international humanitarian law. Civilians cannot be treated as prisoners of war, and civilians cannot be held in prisons. However, the occupying authorities and the aggressor country often attempt to accuse civilians of resisting the so-called “ATO” (Anti-Terrorist Operation) and based on these accusations, they keep them in captivity, explained Petro Yatsenko. According to the spokesperson of the Coordination Headquarters, it’s very difficult to determine the whereabouts of civilian hostages. Additionally, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Ukrainian side cannot exchange these individuals for Russian military personnel. “In this way, we would create a precedent where Russians could capture any civilian, hold them hostage, and demand the return of their military personnel. We only exchange military personnel for military personnel, as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions and international law,” Petro Yatsenko declares. The Coordination Headquarters informed 24 Kanal that they have information about all civilians held in Russian captivity. Furthermore, they continue to gather information to have the ability to release them at any opportunity. Throughout the entire period of the Coordination Headquarters’ activity since March 2022, they have managed...