MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said she is prepared for any format of negotiations on an exchange of prisoners of war (POW) with the Ukrainian side, Moskalkova's press service said on Tuesday.
"For my part, I stand ready to join any format to return our boys home. In these processes, an exchange model is always discussed up to the last [POW]. Unfortunately, Ukrainian Ombudsman Liudmyla Denisova has distanced herself from a human rights dialogue and next steps. They may be different, namely one for one, a group for a group, or the wounded for the wounded," Moskalkova's press service quoted her as saying on Telegram.
At the same time, the conditions in which the captives are held are strictly within the Russian Defense Ministry's purview, she said.
Moskalkova said she was concerned about the conditions in which captured Russian service members are being held in Ukraine. In view of this, she said she has forwarded appeals in defense of their rights to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Director Matteo Mecacci, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic.
"We are extremely worried about the treatment of our people. Relatives and loved ones have said they are being subjected to massive blackmail and intimidation. In particular, military service members have been forced to join antiwar rallies on pain of beatings and [other] physical reprisals," Moskalkova said.
Pavel Butsai, human rights commissioner for Sevastopol, has visited Ukrainian POWs, the press service said. Butsai acknowledged that the conditions in which they are being held comply with the August 12, 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. In particular, they have been "provided with hot meals three times a day, and no physical or moral torture, or other coercive measures, have been applied to them," he said.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, which is continuing at present.