Over 3,000 Ukrainians face detention in Russia's migrant prisons

More than 3,000 Ukrainians may be being held in Russian deportation centres, which operate as "migrant prisons". These facilities hold, among others, political prisoners of the Kremlin who have served their "sentences" on trumped-up charges.

Source: Aliona Lunova, Advocacy Director at the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, as reported by Suspilne Krym

Details: After completing their prison sentences in Russia, Ukrainians continue to be held due to the peculiarities of migration legislation. Former political prisoners are regarded as offenders and are detained. Such people often find that they are unable to renew their documents because Ukrainian diplomatic missions have not been operating in Russia since 2022.

Formally, foreign nationals are held in "migrant prisons" pending deportation or expulsion, but in practice, this mechanism does not apply to Ukrainians.

Quote from former political prisoner Kostiantyn Davydenko: "They issue a deportation order. And in theory, by law, they are supposed to deport the person independently to their country of citizenship. But there is an unofficial policy not to deport these citizens.

Formally, this is all justified by the fact that the 'special military operation' [the term used by the Russian authorities to describe the war] is ongoing and the border with Ukraine is closed, so deportation is impossible."

Details: Lunova points out that Ukraine has not yet found a way to at least issue certificates for the return of imprisoned Ukrainians or to appoint a protecting power to provide consular services in Russia. At the same time, exchanges are possible thanks to agreements between the human rights commissioners.

However, there is no single body or agency in Ukraine that deals with securing the release of civilians.

At present, there is no precise data on the number of Ukrainians held in deportation centres, but Davydenko believes that the number of Ukrainians in "migrant prisons" may increase in the coming years, as the terms of many of those unlawfully detained are coming to an end.

Details: The Office of the Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted that Ukraine is seeking mediation from Estonia and Lithuania to secure the return of its citizens.

Lubinets agrees that Ukraine should have a separate body to deal with this issue – in his opinion, this was demonstrated by the humanitarian operation in Oleshky. A Centre for the Return of Civilians will now be created by his office.

Quote from Lubinets: "We have a similar pilot project – the Child Rights Protection Centre. We want to expand the positive practice of repatriation, guardianship, advocacy, and highlighting Russia's violations of the rights of Ukrainian civilians."

Details: Valentyn Vyhivskyi, aged 43, is one of the Ukrainians who has been unable to return home for years. He became one of the Kremlin's first unlawful prisoners when he was lured to Crimea in 2014 and then accused of "espionage".

Valentyn was "sentenced" to 11 years in prison, after which he ended up in a "migrant prison". When he was captured by the occupiers, his son had not yet started school, and now he is a first-year university student. Valentyn confesses that what he wants most is to see his son again.

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