Ukrainians in Türkiye call for release of Ukrainian POWs from Russian captivity

Ukrainians in Türkiye on Sept. 29 held a rally in Istanbul that called on the release of Ukrainian soldiers being held in Russian captivity. The event was organized by Aliya Usenova, founder of the Istanbul Protest Odakule and deputy head of the Ukrainian Cultural Society, which recently joined the UWC.

“We need publicity because while we remain silent, this problem seems to not exist for the global community. Publicity is like a ‘trail of crumbs’ that will help our defenders return home,” Usenova said.

Twenty-nine relatives of the missing and captured soldiers from the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine joined the rally, along with families of missing military sailors from the Stanislav boat.

Also attending the rally were members of the Ukrainian, Crimean-Tatar and Chechen diaspora in Istanbul, Ukrainian Consulate General Roman Nedilskyi and his spouse Lyudmyla Nedilska, deputy head of the Crimean-Tatar Society Ergiun Sevimsoi, and Abdul-Hakim Shaptukaev, a representative of the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in exile in Türkiye.

“This time, we translated the speeches into Turkish right away, and the response was positive because people saw the faces of the relatives of the prisoners and the missing, the pain in their eyes, and they empathized with them – nodding, bowing their heads, sometimes applauding, and some wiped tears from their eyes,” Usenova said.

Attendees called for an end to Russian aggression and urged all friends of Ukraine to spread truthful information about the war worldwide.

Additionally, on Sept. 28, a meeting with the Crimean Tatar diaspora took place at the Crimean Tatar Society, and on the following day, there was a meeting with the vicar of the Ecuminical Patriarchate of Constantinople.