Most of them are from Azovstal, - Vasyl Knyazevych about the list of captive health professionals, which the UGCC Patriarch handed over to the Pope
Vasyl Kniazevych, chairman of the Honorable Council of the public initiative "Order of St. Panteleimon," said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
"Our community was approached by relatives of doctors who had found their relatives in captivity and asked to join the process of exchanging or returning their relatives from captivity. Most of the medics we were approached about provided assistance at Azovstal... The Head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, is a member of the Order's Honorable Council, and at a meeting with the Pope, he handed him the list. I think that in the future, there will be certain steps. The list contains 41 people," Kniazevych said.
He added that the list includes not only military medics but also civilians. "Our Order supports doctors. During the Covid, doctors were leaders, standing on the front line, and now they are also holding their own front, helping our soldiers and not only the entire population to restore their health. Unfortunately, many health professionals who went to help the military and save lives were taken prisoner, some were killed, and many are missing," noted Kniazevych.
He also noted that the public initiative "Order of St. Panteleimon" appealed to international organizations to release doctors from captivity.
"We would like to see the medics simply returned because they are engaged in saving lives and can help anyone. Health professionals are not considered combatants, so we are starting a public process to return Ukrainian medics and not exchange them," Knyazevich said.
As RISU reported earlier, His Beatitude Sviatoslav handed over to Pope Francis the lists of captive health professionals he had received the day before from the Honorable Council of the Order of St. Panteleimon. Pope Francis assured that he supports Ukraine in its attempts to release prisoners.
