Ukraine returns three prisoners of war from Hungary

The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary. They are already on Ukrainian territory and are provided with all kinds of support, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko.

Ukrainian diplomats, together with the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other bodies, continue to take active measures to return the remaining Ukrainian defenders deported from Russia to Hungary, the diplomat said.

Earlier, the team of the Commissioner for Missing Persons found out that 11 defenders of Ukraine , who were held as prisoners of war by the aggressor state, are currently in Hungary.

The names of the prisoners, the route of their transfer to Hungary were established, their relatives and relevant law enforcement agencies were notified. There was no information about seven of these 11 soldiers at all.

On June 8, 2023, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it had handed over prisoners of war "of Transcarpathian origin" to Hungary as part of "inter-church cooperation at the request of the Hungarian side."

The next day, the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary confirmed the media information about the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war to the country.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the state was not informed of this fact.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary stated that the government is allegedly not involved in the transfer of Ukrainian prisoners from the Russian Federation, Ukrainian prisoners can "move freely in Hungary" and do "whatever they will".