On November 16, with the assistance of the MPs from UKROP, the exhibition of photos of families of Ukrainian prisoners of war “Not forgotten. Forgotten at war” is held in the Verkhovna Rada.
The organizers of the event are NGO “Battalion of national defense Kryvbas” and “Berehynya”. With the help of the photo exhibition, they want to attract attention of the MPs to the problem of the liberation of captives and the search for missing fighters who have become victims of the undeclared war which is unrecognized at the official level.
“It is alarming that in the 21st century there are people who are in captivity or who are considered gone missing. It hurts that the state takes not much care for such families,” said the head of the public organization “Berehynya” Alla Makukh.
The mother of the captive set an example of Kryviy Rih in Dnipropetrovsk region. In this city, the UKROP members have initiated the allocation of one-time assistance in the amount of 100 thousand UAH to the families of prisoners and missing persons.
“In Dnipropetrovsk region, there are about 40 such families, in other cities and villages of Ukraine there are not so many of them. Is it so difficult for the state or local authorities to help them?” noted the head of a public organization.
For his part, the chairman of the ATO Veterans’ Council of the UKROP party, curator of the Kryvbas Battalion Mykola Kolesnyk has noted that more than one hundred and fifty captives are now held in the territory of the ORDLO. However, this number is rather suppositive, because militants of the so-called LNR and DPR do not give access to the information about the captives at all.
According to the veteran, the authorities can facilitate the liberation of captives, at least by introducing the official status of prisoners of war, but this has not happened during these four years of the undeclared war.
“We do not have the status of prisoners, these are just the words. But the worst thing is that the authorities have forgotten not only about our guys at war, but also about their families in the free territories,” said Mykola Kolesnyk.
The exhibition displays photos and video installations with the families of captive soldiers. Everyone can also buy small souvenirs made by the hands of captives’ children. The money raised here will be used to help the families of the captives.
