Almost 200 people demonstrated this Monday to denounce the lack of communication from Kiev about the fate of their relatives missing or captured by the Russian army.
Families of missing or captured Ukrainian soldiers demonstrated this Monday in Kiev, Ukraine, criticizing the “silence” of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the military leadership.
Nearly 200 people, mostly women, gathered in the center of the Ukrainian capital and then marched to a military checkpoint near Volodymyr Zelensky’s office to demand a presidential welcome.
Soldiers “sent to slaughter”
“Zelenskyy! Zelensky!” they shouted, some in tears, shouting their anger at the soldiers and police stationed there. “They are taking our men to the slaughterhouse,” a woman shouted.
“Where are they? Give us back our children,” another protester shouted.
The war has lasted 600 days and the Ukrainian counteroffensive is making little progress. The families complain about the little information they subsequently received from military leaders, who they say often refused to talk to them. The various units in which their members served fight mainly in the Donbass (east), and Russia has not provided complete lists of prisoners of war or access to detention centers.
“Our authorities are silent”
The head of state did not come to meet the demonstrators, but they were able to deliver letters to a presidential representative.
Nadia Primak, 16, who lives in Zaporizhia (South), holds a photo of her father, missing in the Donetsk region, and her 28-year-old brother, who fought in the 36th Brigade and was captive for 18 months. The family learned of his fate when they saw him on a Russian video.
“We came today because we want to know where my father is, where my brother is… Our authorities are silent. Why don’t you say anything?” asks the young girl. “We want the truth and for the commanders to come and talk to us,” adds his mother Vira. “But they turn off their phones so we can’t call them.”