Ombudsman: 45 citizens returned to Ukraine from occupation, Russia and Belarus

Ukrainians who were returned from occupation, April 2025. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets

On the evening of 5 April, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets reported that 45 citizens had been returned from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. Most of them are elderly people, seriously ill and with limited mobility.

According to the ombudsman, people were returned not only from the TOT, but also from Russia and Belarus. The oldest Ukrainian is 93 years old.

Ukrainians who were returned from the occupation, April 2025. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets

Ukrainians who were returned from the occupation, April 2025. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets

Among the evacuees were people with limited mobility and seriously ill people. They were physically unable to leave the occupied settlements. In addition, 10 people needed urgent treatment and had severe chronic illnesses. Evacuation was organised for 23 people with the use of specialised transport and medical support.

«For many of them, this was the only way to avoid the danger associated with the restriction of rights, insufficient access to medical care, pressure and risk to life from the occupation administrations», he wrote.

In addition, we managed to return Ukrainians who needed legal support and assistance because they had lost their documents and could not cross the border on their own.

Ukrainians who were returned from the occupation, April 2025. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets

Ukrainians who were returned from the occupation, April 2025. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets

Earlier it was reported that a 19-year-old girl and a 23-year-old man with a disability were returned from the temporarily occupied territory.