What problems do civilians face after returning from Russian captivity? Is it difficult to prove the fact of being held captive by the occupiers, and what evidence is usually required? Journalists learned about all this in a story by Radio Liberty's Pryazovia News project. Kateryna Levchenko, a lawyer of the Association, became one of the experts in the material and answered these important questions.

According to the Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, Russia is holding approximately 7,000 Ukrainian civilians in captivity. The Ukrainian side has managed to release only 147 citizens who were illegally detained. After returning from captivity, civilians face a variety of issues related to finances, housing, healthcare and have psychological problems with adaptation. And most importantly, they are unable to receive state aid, which is due to them by law.

For example, ATO participant Vitalii Nakonechnyi was detained by the Russian military in April 2022 in the Kherson region. He was detained for several weeks. The Ukrainian recalls the numerous tortures he endured while being held hostage. Now he is on the territory controlled by Ukraine and is trying to get social assistance. Mykola applied to the Ministry of Reintegration to confirm the fact of his deprivation of liberty as a result of Russia's armed aggression. But he received a refusal. The official response from the Ministry of Reintegration, which he provided to Novyny Pryazovia, states that the relevant commission decided not to confirm the fact of his captivity.

Kateryna told Novyny Pryazovia that the law establishing the fact of a person's captivity does not contain a clear and exhaustive list of documents that an applicant must submit.

"The biggest problem that applicants face when they receive a so-called refusal is that this refusal is unmotivated. They will receive a letter from the Ministry of Reintegration stating that there were not enough votes to make a positive decision. They believe that this is a way of communicating something to the applicant. In fact, when faced with such a refusal, no applicant understands what to do, what exactly the commission lacked, i.e. what documents should be attached? If, for example, there was an exhaustive list of documents, they could refer to what exactly was missing," she said.

There is a large category of people who were held hostage in the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and who were released by the occupiers on their own, the lawyer said. Many of these people are denied confirmation of their captivity.

"These people returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine through Russia, through Europe. This means that they returned to the territory of Ukraine, where they have nothing - after captivity, with undermined health, with conditional documents. And they are denied the right to establish this fact because the commission believes that there are not enough documents. That is, to demand that people, after surviving captivity, should somehow contact the occupiers about their illegal detention and provide these documents to the commission is absurd. When the state failed to protect, a person was held captive, they lost their home, and upon returning to Ukraine, they have yet something else to prove! There is no assistance to these people from law enforcement authorities".

To confirm the fact of being in captivity, you need to submit all the evidence that can be collected. This can be a direct appeal to law enforcement agencies and their respective extracts from the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, an appeal by the family to the Coordination Headquarters, the National Information Bureau, or the SBU Joint Centre about the person's imprisonment.

"These authorities respond to applicants in writing. If the responses contain information confirming deprivation of liberty, it is mandatory to provide this information. Confirmation from the Red Cross is also very important. These may also include responses from UN working groups, if any. If available, documents from the occupation authorities and the Russian Federation. Of course, they cannot be considered direct documents within the meaning of Ukrainian law, but they can, in their entirety, confirm the circumstances described in the application that the applicant refers to regarding his or her imprisonment. Documents of international organisations, if any investigation was carried out into the imprisonment of certain categories of people," the human rights activist lists.

Once the fact of being in captivity is confirmed, a person is entitled to social and legal protection under the Law "On Social and Legal Protection of Persons in respect of whom the fact of deprivation of personal liberty as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine and their family members has been established".

Upon release, civilian prisoners may receive:‍

• a one-time financial assistance of UAH 100,000 upon release;
• reimbursement of expenses for professional legal assistance;
• restructuring of debts to a bank or other financial institution;
• social and medical rehabilitation, psychological assistance;
• provision of temporary housing;
• retention of employment for the entire period of imprisonment, as well as for 6 months from the date of release in case of rehabilitation.

The law also applies to family members of civilian hostages, and it is important that they are aware of their rights to:‍

• annual financial assistance of UAH 100,000 until the person is released;
• a one-time financial assistance of UAH 100,000 in case of death of a person during restriction of liberty or within a year after release due to reasons related to imprisonment.
• obtaining undergraduate and higher education at the expense of the state for children of such a person under the age of 23.
• reimbursement of expenses for specialised legal assistance after release.

‍