Another 11 Ukrainians Return From Temporarily Occupied Territories

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) According to Ukrinform, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, reported this on Facebook.

“Another 11 Ukrainian citizens have returned to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government! For some of them, the journey was particularly difficult because of their health conditions, the need for medical care and the need to arrange a safe departure,” he said.

According to the Ombudsman, those who managed to leave included a married couple for whom the journey home effectively began twice.

“The woman had previously managed to leave the occupied territory. However, her husband became seriously ill and was admitted to intensive care. She returned to be by his side and, after his condition improved, once again arranged for them to leave. Today, they returned to Ukraine together,” he added.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner stressed that this year, cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine has been significantly strengthened in efforts to return civilians who need assistance leaving the occupied territories.

“I am grateful to them for their cooperation, as it is now systematic. Measures to return citizens take place weekly or every two weeks, depending on the lists compiled, people's circumstances and the possibility of arranging a safe route,” he said.

In parallel, cooperation is also underway with another important partner, Caritas Ukraine, which has been helping since early 2025 not only with the return itself but also afterward – with onward transportation, temporary accommodation, financial, social and psychological support, as well as other immediate needs.

“The Office of the Ukrainian Ombudsman is effectively the only state institution that systematically organizes the return of citizens from temporarily occupied territories via the humanitarian route Mokrany–Domanove. We work with people who often have no way to leave on their own and coordinate assistance at every stage of their return. The scale of this work is significant. As part of measures to relocate people and reunite families in various areas, 818 people received assistance in 2023–2026,” Lubinets emphasized.

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Overall, according to him, 24,953 people, including 2,054 children, returned to Ukraine through the Mokrany–Domanove border crossing between May 24, 2024, and October 15, 2026. This year alone, 11,815 people returned, including 802 children.

These data have been recorded since 2024, following the Ombudsman's Office becoming involved in work at the border.

“The direct presence of our staff at the Mokrany–Domanove border crossing plays a special role in this work. An employee of the Ombudsman's Office works there, advising citizens on their rights and helping resolve urgent issues after they cross the border,” he explained.

This makes it possible not to limit the work to processing appeals remotely, but to identify people's needs directly on site, help them contact relatives, arrange onward transportation and coordinate interaction with government agencies and humanitarian partners.

“The defining feature of this work is that assistance is provided first and foremost to those who cannot return on their own. These include elderly people, persons with disabilities and serious illnesses, people with limited mobility and bedridden individuals, children and families with children. Assistance is also needed by citizens facing persecution or the threat of forced mobilization, people who have been unlawfully detained and those left without money, housing, family support or proper documents,” Lubinets concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to Lubinets, the most difficult category to return is Ukrainian civilians detained or convicted by the occupation authorities on charges of“high treason” or for assisting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Photo: Dmytro Lubinets, Facebook

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