This week, a delegation from the Vatican visited Ukraine. It did not come for no reason, ...

This week, a delegation from the Vatican visited Ukraine. It came not just for the sake of it, but over one of the most urgent humanitarian issues at present: the issue of prisoners. The Pope’s special envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, visited one of the Ukrainian camps for prisoners of war and held a meeting with the head of the Coordination Headquarters, Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko.

During the meeting, they discussed the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in the Russian Federation, the return of Ukrainian children, the search for those missing without trace, and the repatriation of the bodies of the dead, as well as the possibility of an “all for all” exchange. Oleh Ivashchenko recalled Ukraine’s readiness for a prisoner exchange in this format. The Ukrainian side’s position on its necessity remains constant and unchanged.

The Ukrainian side thanked the cardinal for the fact that the Holy See and Pope Leo XIV personally are consistently paying close attention to humanitarian issues connected with the war against Ukraine launched by Russia. These are not empty words, and the visit of the Vatican delegation is not merely a formal gesture of courtesy. Leo XIV’s predecessor, Pope Francis, also repeatedly drew attention to the problem of prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and the Russian Federation and called on Russia for an “all for all” exchange. The current pontiff holds the same position.

"The Holy See prays for the swift release and return home of all prisoners of war and civilians," Cardinal Matteo Zuppi noted.

Ukraine expects its partners to take decisive diplomatic steps aimed at the immediate cessation of torture against Ukrainians in Russian captivity and for the Russian Federation to provide full official information about all civilians and prisoners of war from Ukraine and other countries being held in Russian prisons. Our goal remains unchanged: bringing all our people home.

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