☝ The Working Group of the Coordination Headquarters on the Treatment of Prisoners of War has developed a number of recommendations for relatives of our Defenders who are in captivity, missing under special circumstances, released from captivity, as well as the media in order to avoid possible risks for those Defenders who are temporarily in captivity when communicating in public sources.

To the relatives of the Defenders who are temporarily in captivity, the media

❌ It is worth avoiding:

• Transfer of personal data and personal information of defenders to the media (for example: a prisoner reported that he was a paramedic or a driver, and his released brother provides other information in an interview).
• Conscious or unconscious participation in the enemy's psychological operations (example - calls from prisons to relatives of prisoners: "Why don't you take yours from us? Do something, protest").
• Excessive media attention for prisoners who were not widely known publicly before being captured. This can complicate the return process.

✅ How to act:

• To address international organizations (PACE, OSCE, UN General Assembly, UN Commission on Human Rights, governments of states) with demands to put pressure on Russia with demands to implement the Geneva Convention.
• Contact the ICRC, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
• Maintain regular contact with the Coordination Headquarters.
• Report new information about prisoners to the National Information Bureau (NIB) and to criminal case files (through the investigator).
• In the event that someone tries to find out any data about military personnel (unit number, location, personal data, etc.) in person or through online tools (forms, chatbots, etc.) located on unofficial resources, or to demand money or other valuables as payment for alleged return, exchange, inclusion in exchange lists, etc., immediately notify the Coordination Headquarters and law enforcement agencies.

To the Defenders released from captivity and their relatives, the media

❌ It is worth avoiding:

• Messages like "he will recover quickly and return to the front." This may negatively affect further negotiation processes.
• Do not disclose personal data and information about brothers and sisters who are still in captivity to the media.
• Avoid excessive specificity when publicly speaking about human rights violations (torture, conditions of detention), use general narratives about similar cases. Due to detailed publicly disseminated information, comrades who are still in enemy captivity may suffer. Also, the enemy may assess the effectiveness of the impact of torture based on the memories of those released from captivity.
• Do not distribute photos or videos of brothers and sisters who have not yet been released. From them, the enemy may obtain additional information about what the prisoner was doing.

✅ How to act:

• In conversations with the media, emphasize the need for Russia to comply with the norms of the Geneva Conventions.
• Ukraine is constantly working to support the relatives of those who remained in captivity and to secure their release.
• Help relatives of prisoners directly submit data to the National Bureau of Investigation.
• To realize that every word spoken can affect the conditions of those who remained in captivity. (Including in the “legal” field of the Russian Federation: the classification of the actions of the defenders may be changed).