Ukrainian intelligence is verifying information about the alleged transfer of a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary by the Russian Orthodox Church. Currently, there are no confirmations of the statement of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense and the Coordination Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said this.
Ukraine contacted Hungary
"We are monitoring information related to Ukrainian prisoners of war, including information that appeared on the website of the so-called Russian Orthodox Church. To date, there is no official confirmation of this data," Yusov said.
According to him, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, as part of the work of the Coordination Staff on the treatment of prisoners of war, contacted Hungarian colleagues - Hungarian diplomats in Kyiv and Moscow, and the Hungarian Foreign Ministry.
"And as of now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary does not confirm this information. In addition, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary for Religious Affairs, Zolt Semien. And their government, as of now, also does not confirm the information posted on the website of the Russian Orthodox Church," Yusov noted.
The representative of GUR said that this information is also not confirmed by international structures, in particular the Committee of the Red Cross.
"In addition, apart from the so-called Russian Orthodox Church, which operates on the territory of the aggressor state, no other conditionally official structures of the Russian Federation have published or confirmed data regarding the alleged transfer of our prisoners of war to another country," Yusov emphasized.
The information may be fake
That is, according to the representative of the GUR, either this information is generally not true, or it was about some special operation or cooperation with the participation of certain unofficial structures that cannot be called involved in this or that state at the official level.
"Whether such a transfer actually took place is currently being checked," the interlocutor claims.
In turn, he noted that the GUR had information about a special operation, an information and psychological operation, which was prepared by the Russian special services with the participation of a religious organization of the aggressor state of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"Its goal was to restore the reputation and raise the image on the territory of the European Union. Unfortunately, the Russian Federation continues to use the most sensitive topics, in particular the fate of prisoners of war, not for solving humanitarian issues and fulfilling international obligations, but for conducting separate informational and psychological operations." , - emphasized Yusov.
He reminded that the only body in Ukraine authorized to deal with the return and exchange of our prisoners of war is the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which complies with the Geneva Conventions.
"Formally, a similar structure operates on the territory of the Russian Federation. But there was no activity on their part regarding this situation," says Yusov.
In conclusion, he added that the majority of Ukrainian defenders who are currently in Russian captivity consider themselves Orthodox.
"And we hope and insist that there should be equal treatment for all prisoners of war, regardless of their religious faith, ethnic or regional origin. Actually, this is exactly the civilized approach that Ukraine demonstrates today to the implementation of international humanitarian law," - concluded the representative of the HUR .
Prehistory
Previously informed sources of RBC-Ukraine reported that the Russian Orthodox Church plans to hand over part of the Ukrainian prisoners to Hungary and this decision was not agreed with Ukraine.
According to one of the interlocutors, the Russian Orthodox Church and its patriarch Kyrylo (Gundyaev) are going to hand over at least 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war to Hungary. And one of the mediators should be the charitable organization Maltese Relief Service of the Sovereign Order of Hospitallers.
In this way, the Russian Orthodox Church wants to restore the lost legitimacy of the Russian Church, against which broad international sanctions have been imposed, as well as to delegitimize the very process of exchanging prisoners of war.
At the same time, the source reported that Russia is again planning to play the so-called "Hungarian card" and actualize the imaginary problems of the alleged "Transcarpathian separatism".
It should be noted that yesterday the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church published a message that this "transfer took place at the request of the Hungarian side." At the same time, they did not specify the number of captured Ukrainians in question.
