“Where are they?”: Families of missing or detained Ukrainian soldiers demonstrated in Kiev on Monday, criticizing the “silence” of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the military leadership.
• Also read: Qatar says it has repatriated Ukrainian children taken by Russia to Ukraine
• Also read: Ukraine: According to Putin, the Russian army is “improving its positions” on the front, including around Avdiivka
Nearly 200 demonstrators, mostly women, gathered in the center of the Ukrainian capital and then marched to a military checkpoint near Mr. Zelensky’s office to demand a presidential reception.
AFP
“Zelensky! Zelenskyy!” they shouted, some in tears, making their anger at the soldiers and police stationed there clear. “They are taking our men to the slaughterhouse,” a woman shouted. “Where are they?” “Give us back our children,” shouted another.
AFP
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 relatives served fight mainly in the Donbass (east).
Mr. Zelensky did not come down to meet the protesters, but they were able to deliver letters to a representative of the presidential office.
AFP
Yulia Chernobyl is not angry. “They treated us terribly.” His father Andriy went missing in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine while fighting with the 120th Territorial Defense Brigade.
“I’ve been looking for him in vain for six months,” says this nurse.
Anna Matiaj’s husband has been missing for more than 18 months while fighting in the Donbass battalion. “The commanders just send them to their deaths,” she said.
Russia has not provided complete lists of prisoners of war or access to detention centers.
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.”