Spokesperson for Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Petro Yatsenko, said this on Espreso TV.“We constantly cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the National Red Cross. The cooperation continues, but there is a huge discrepancy and imbalance between the access the Red Cross has in Ukraine to places where Russian prisoners are held and the access the Red Cross has in the aggressor country,” he said.Yatsenko emphasized that in Russia, access granted to the Red Cross is rare.“There are over 180 detention facilities there, while we have five. That’s a huge difference. Regarding those 180 places, they are unfit — prisons, pretrial detention centers, and basements where none of the rules of the Third Geneva Convention are respected. We would expect and want to see, in the fourth year of Russian aggression, some progress in the access of international observers. The ICRC is the only organization with an international mandate to these detention sites. Or, if you do not have such access, in my opinion, you should at least state that clearly. Because our people must have the same conditions as Russians held in our camps,” the spokesperson said.He added that, in informal conversations, representatives of the ICRC express support and understanding.“But they say: ‘Look, if Ukraine follows even 90% of all international humanitarian law rules on the treatment of prisoners of war, and Russia follows only about 10%, then in our reports it will still say that neither side is fully complying.’ They justify this because it’s not 100%,” the spokesperson said.Yatsenko emphasized that it must be understood that international organizations pursue their own policies and often consciously or unconsciously soften these differences in their reports.“As a result, they have access to detention sites here and can make some remarks, but in Russia, where they lack access, they have no remarks. This is a very important difference, and such organizations should publicly highlight the lack of access on the international level and emphasize it. Unfortunately, this has not happened in the fourth year. But in any case, we continue to cooperate,” he added.The spokesman noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross significantly helps Ukraine and runs programs to support civilians.“But in this regard, we want the Red Cross to also push harder to gain access and the ability to deliver parcels, for example, to places where Ukrainians are held. Russia does not provide us with any official information about who, where, and how many are detained. And the Red Cross remains practically the only official way to confirm captivity,” Yatsenko said.He explained that requests go through the Red Cross to the Russian Ministry of Defense, which then confirms whether a person is in captivity.“According to procedure, an ICRC representative should visit the place where prisoners are held, see them in person, and describe their health condition, because documents and papers mean nothing. A person may be seriously wounded or ill, or may be deceased, but neither we nor they know this. That’s why the negotiation process and agreements are so difficult to carry out, because we don’t know who is where and in what condition. We have information that often helps, for example, when the Russian side says they do not have a certain person. But we have information not only about where that person is but also in which barrack, on which floor, and in which cell they are held. This helps with their release, which is very important. This is unique work, with dozens of people from many organizations working on this constantly, without days off,” the spokesperson concluded.