In the past two weeks, prisoner books, hygiene items, blankets and warm clothing have been included news brought by their families. This reports that International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday in Geneva.

Employees on the Ukrainian side could also have visited prisoners of war. “I expect that these visits will now lead to more regular access to all prisoners of war,” said ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric.

Negotiating prison visits is a delicate diplomatic matter. The ICRC reports on this very cautiously. There was since Beginning of the war some visitsbut especially on the Ukrainian side.

The ICRC spoke of “hundreds, not thousands”. How many prisoners of war there are on both sides is unknown. The ICRC did not say how many people were hit, where, or what condition they were in.

It is unclear whether it was given access to the Olenivka prison camp in the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk region. There, in July, more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners were held in a explosion killed.

The ICRC spoke of a two-day visit among Ukrainian prisoners of war. A second is planned for this week. In addition, Russian prisoners of war were visited. Further visits are to follow by the end of December.

According to the universal Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war have the right to be visited by the Red Cross. However, the ICRC is dependent on security guarantees from the military involved. If they are denied, countries are violating the Geneva Conventions.