On VOT, the Russians have taken some 2,500 prisoners and are trying to recruit them into illegal military groups

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said this at a conference entitled "The state of human rights in places of detention during the legal regime of martial law", Ukrinform reported.

We cannot clearly say how many Ukrainians are currently on the territory of Russia because Russia itself does not give us any official figures. But according to our data, definitely at least 2.5 thousand citizens of Ukraine, who were in places of detention and remained on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, were taken to the territory of the Russian Federation," Lubinets said.

It is noted that the Office of the Ombudsman has recorded attempts by Russians to mobilize Ukrainian prisoners into illegal military groups, in particular, into the Wagner Peak.

Mikhail Podolyak confirmed the ombudsman's thesis, saying it is possible.

We understand that such a situation is taking place in the temporarily occupied territories. And then these people - forced or not - may fight against us, and then they (may - ed.) be subjected to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, namely Article 111 part 2. It is likely that their actions may be further subjected to a criminal-legal assessment if there are relevant circumstances," a representative of the Prosecutor-General's Office said.