Ukraine's rights commissioner says Kostiantynivka never raised in humanitarian mission talks
Dmytro Lubinets says he first learned from media of a proposed mission in Kostiantynivka and that Russian officials never mentioned the city in contacts.
By Marina Weber ·
Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets has stated that Kostiantynivka, a city in Donetsk Oblast, was never brought up during discussions about potential humanitarian missions, even though Kyiv has compiled its own list of settlements that could be considered for such efforts.
Writing on Telegram on 13 November, Lubinets said he first learned of the so-called humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka, proposed as a copy of an earlier operation in Oleshky, from media reports rather than through official channels.
He added that Russian representatives had not raised Kostiantynivka in any contacts, while Ukraine maintains its own priority list of cities in need of assistance.
"Kostiantynivka was not mentioned at all among the potential settlements where similar humanitarian missions could be organised, although we do have a preliminary list of such settlements. However, we initially focused our attention on Kherson Oblast, specifically the part of Kherson Oblast temporarily occupied by Russia," Lubinets said.
The commissioner said Russian forces have created a critical situation in many temporarily occupied settlements, with civilians enduring dire conditions.
"I am aware that this kind of humanitarian catastrophe, that is, the extremely difficult and poor living conditions in which Ukrainian citizens are currently living, is occurring not only in Oleshky but also in other settlements in Kherson Oblast," he added.
A day earlier, on 12 November, Russian leader Vladimir Putin proposed carrying out a so-called humanitarian mission in Kostiantynivka, modelled on the earlier operation in Oleshky, during talks with US special envoys. Putin also repeated his false claim that Russia has full control over the city.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has previously dismissed Putin's assertion that Russian forces have occupied Kostiantynivka as untrue.
The Office of the President of Ukraine has warned that Moscow is seeking to exploit humanitarian missions in order to regroup its forces on the battlefield.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, said that during the ceasefire in Oleshky, Russian forces returned to positions from which Ukrainian defenders had been pushing them out for almost a year.
