Ombudsman: Most human rights complaints in Mykolaiv Region come from families of POWs and missing persons

Prisoners of war who have been returned to Ukraine. Photo: SBU

In the Mykolaiv region, the number of complaints regarding human rights violations has increased more than fourfold in recent years. Among those who most frequently contact the Ombudsman’s office are the families of prisoners of war and those missing in action, as well as military personnel.

This was reported by Vasyl Donets, the representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, in a comment to NikVesti.

According to him, in 2022 the office received 1,058 complaints, whilst in 2025 this figure rose to 4,473.

«The number of rights violations is rising, but this high number of complaints is primarily due to the fact that our institution has become more popular and accessible, as we have built up a regional network and opened regional offices. And indeed, one of the key priorities emphasised by the Commissioner is that we should be closer to the people. In principle, the statistics show precisely that,» said Vasyl Donets.

According to the report, in 2025 the Commissioner’s office in the Mykolaiv region received and processed 4,473 appeals and 5,398 reports of human and civil rights violations.

Screenshot from the annual report of the Commissioner’s office in the Mykolaiv region

The majority of complaints concerned civil rights — 3,858. A further 341 appeals concerned social rights, 228 — freedom from discrimination, 208 — economic rights, 148 — personal rights and 126 — children’s rights. Four complaints concerned political rights, and a further four — cultural rights. A total of 72 complaints were also recorded where the specific right infringed was not specified, and 409 concerned other rights.

«The breakdown of complaints is roughly the same as across the whole of Ukraine. First and foremost, we have been receiving a great many enquiries recently from the families of prisoners of war, people reported missing in action, and military personnel. In second place are usually issues relating to socio-economic life. These include pensions, hospitals and everything associated with them,» said Vasyl Donets.

Vasyl Donets, representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Photo: NikVesti

A separate area of the office’s work is the protection of the rights of military personnel, veterans, those liable for military service and the families of military personnel who are being held captive by Russia or have gone missing under special circumstances.

Throughout 2025, representatives of the Ombudsman held 33 meetings with the families of prisoners of war and those missing in action. Over 1,600 people took part in these meetings. They also dealt with around 300 telephone enquiries and over 100 written enquiries from families.

According to the annual report, one of the key issues in 2025 was the changes to legislation regarding the payment of financial allowances to servicemen who have gone missing. This led to problems with the review of previously adopted decisions, the timeframes for processing applications and documents, and the forwarding of enquiries from the TCC and the Joint Commission to military units.

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It is noted that these problems were systemic in nature and contributed to rising social tensions.

Among other issues, the delegation cites a lack of awareness among families regarding the procedures for the exchange of prisoners of war and the search for those missing in action, breaches of deadlines for military units to respond to enquiries, and insufficient coordination between individual state bodies and the military command.

As a reminder, in June Ukraine repatriated a further 160 defenders from Russian captivity. Almost all of them had been held captive since 2022.

Read also the article by NikVesti entitled «Violations of children’s right to education. How do inclusive schools operate in the Mykolaiv region?».