Ukraine's Embassy in Budapest managed to evacuate three Ukrainian POWs from Hungary – MFA spokesperson
The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest was able to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary, the soldiers are already on Ukrainian territory, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) Oleh Nikolenko said.
"The Embassy of Ukraine in Budapest managed to take three Ukrainian prisoners of war out of Hungary. They are already on Ukrainian territory, they are receiving all kinds of support," Nikolenko said on Facebook.
He said Ukrainian diplomats, together with the Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other involved bodies of Ukraine, continue to take active measures to return home the rest of the Ukrainian defenders evacuated from Russia to Hungary.
On June 19, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikolenko said attempts by the Ukrainian side to establish a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities are ignored by official diplomatic channels.
"All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats over the past few days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens have not been successful. This, as well as information received from relatives of some of them, indicates that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities about the allegedly free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary do not correspond to the reality. In fact, they are kept in isolation, do not have access to open sources of information, their communication with relatives takes place in the presence of third parties, they are denied contact with the Ukrainian embassy," Nikolenko said on Facebook.
On June 16, Commissioner for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances Oleh Kotenko announced that the whereabouts of 11 Ukrainian captured defenders held in Hungary, who were previously prisoners of war in Russia, had been established.
On June 9, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikolenko said the Hungarian charge d'affaires had been invited to the Foreign Ministry for a substantive discussion on the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russia to Hungary.
According to him, from the public statements of the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister, Ukraine learned that Russia handed over 11 Ukrainians of Hungarian origin to Budapest.
