«They fought for us — we fight for them»: a rally in support of prisoners of war took place in Mykolaiv

On Sunday, February 4, a large-scale rally in support of prisoners of war and missing Ukrainian soldiers took place in Mykolaiv.

The organizers of the action were relatives and relatives of prisoners of war, reports the correspondent of NikVesti.

According to the organizers, the «We are the voice of the prisoners» car race aims to draw the attention of the public and the international community to the problem of the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The head of the all-Ukrainian public organization «Union of Mothers and Wives of the Defenders of Ukraine» Pershyna Liliia notes that the conditions of stay of Ukrainian military personnel in Russian prisons are «slow death».

«Inhumane treatment, torture, fictitious sentences, ignoring the postulates of the Geneva Convention — these are all realities of Russian captivity. Russia uses our prisoners as hostages for cynical blackmail. And our soldiers and civilians who are in captivity cannot stand up for themselves. Therefore, we must speak. We must fight for them, just as they fought for us. We are the voice of the captives! And we want international human rights organizations and diplomats of different countries to hear us. Every day of captivity kills,» said Liliia Pershyna, head of the Mykolaiv branch of the Association.

People held placards with photos of soldiers and the words: «Fight for them as they fought for us,» «My heart is now a prisoner».

«We only have faith that they are strong and we must be strong, we have no right to give up! Each of them is a Hero and deserves to return home to his family and loved ones as soon as possible! We have to fight for them to get them back as soon as possible. «Ukraine is waiting for its heroes to come home from captivity,» summarizes the wife of the prisoner of war, Kateryna.

As part of the rally, about five hundred participants with the flags of the divisions drove through the streets of Mykolaiv.

The final point of the run was the 8th pier, where the rally was held. Relatives of prisoners of war unfurled the flag of Ukraine, and also held in their hands posters and photos of their relatives who are in captivity of the Russian Federation.

According to the estimates of the police representatives, more than 350 people took part in the action.

Photo report

We will remind, on January 14, a rally of relatives and relatives of military prisoners took place in Mykolaiv. Among the protesters are the relatives of captured Mykolaiv soldiers, including defenders of «Azovstal».

Even earlier, on October 28, in Mykolaiv, before the All-Ukrainian Day of Support for the Army, a rally was already held with the demand to direct money from the city budget not to roads and improvements, but to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As you know, on November 4, the Mykolaiv City Council allocated about 700 million hryvnias to the needs of the Defense Forces.

In addition, residents of Mykolaiv joined the campaign in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

It was previously reported that on January 31, Ukraine returned 207 Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity. 83 of them are National Guardsmen, border guards and policemen.