The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and other involved bodies of Ukraine continue to take active measures to return home allegedly eleven Ukrainian prisoners of war whom Hungary took from Russia without the knowledge of the Ukrainian government or international human rights organizations.

All attempts by Ukrainian diplomats in recent days to establish direct contact with Ukrainian citizens were unsuccessful. This, as well as the information received from the relatives of some of them, shows that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities about the allegedly free status of Ukrainian defenders in Hungary are not true.

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 of the right to establish contact with the Embassy of Ukraine.

Attempts by the Ukrainian side to establish a constructive dialogue with the Hungarian authorities through official diplomatic channels are, unfortunately, ignored.

Such actions of Budapest call into question the declared humanitarian motives for the transfer of Ukrainians to Hungary. In addition, they can be qualified as a violation of the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine once again appealed to the Hungarian side with the demand to immediately allow the Ukrainian consul to visit the Ukrainian prisoners of war, so that he could assess their physical and psychological condition, inform them on their rights, and also provide urgent consular assistance.

Ukraine awaits the return of our defenders and is ready to provide them with maximum assistance in reuniting with their relatives and providing the necessary rehabilitation.