Presidential Office: Ukraine preparing to return deported citizens

Ukraine is preparing for talks with Russia on returning citizens deported from its occupied territories, said Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, Report informs via RBC Ukraine.

“The process will take place simultaneously with the exchange of prisoners. We will return all our citizens. This is not a matter of discussion. We are preparing for this at the level of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Reintegration. We have plans, but we have to prepare everything legally. Because it is possible to speak with Russians only in the legal language,” he said.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian troops had taken about 5,000 children from Mariupol to Russia.