Hungary announced the release of prisoners

In Hungary, they announced that they freed Ukrainian prisoners who had been transferred by the Russian Orthodox Church. This statement was made by Hungarian government representative Zoltan Kovacs, CNN reports.

Kovacs noted that the Ukrainian military was released to the Russian Federation “after cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Hungarian Charitable Service of the Order of Malta.” At the same time, Kovacs noted that the military left for Hungary of their own free will.

The official emphasized that most of the military also have Hungarian citizenship, while others “received refugee status in Hungary.”

“Now they are free people who can stay in Hungary or leave Hungary at any time of their own free will,” Kovacs said, adding that the Hungarian government no longer monitors their movements.

Earlier, Hungary confirmed that the Russian Federation had handed over Ukrainian prisoners to it. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that this happened without the consent of the Ukrainian side. They also reported that all attempts by Ukrainian diplomats in recent days to establish direct contact with Ukrainians were unsuccessful. In addition, the data received from the relatives of some of them indicate that the assurances of the Hungarian authorities about the alleged free status of the defenders do not correspond to the reality. The Foreign Ministry requests that the consul be allowed to the Ukrainian captives in Hungary.

It was also reported that the location of 11 Ukrainian prisoners in Hungary was established.