Russia and Ukraine should reopen a border crossing to allow people to return home and families to reunite, Moscow’s top human rights official, Tatyana Moskalkova, has suggested.

Kiev closed all border crossing points with Russia and Belarus after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

“We should discuss the possibility of opening one border crossing point for Russian citizens who want to be reunited with their relatives and loved ones,” Moskalkova said in a meeting with lawmakers on Tuesday. This would help those who’d like to leave, “but no longer have the necessary documents to legally leave the country through other routes,” she said.

Moskalkova added that her office helped reunite more than 50 families in the past year.

Moscow is also in talks with Kiev about the return of Russian citizens taken by retreating Ukrainian forces from Kursk Region, she said. At least 12 Russian citizens that are being held in Ukraine’s Sumy Region do not have the opportunity to leave, and “have effectively become hostages,” she explained.

Ukrainian forces captured a number of Russians when they launched a major incursion into the Russian border region in the summer of 2024. The offensive stalled within weeks, and was fully repulsed by April the following year.

Russian officials said they received testimonies alleging war crimes committed by the Ukrainian forces during their occupation of parts of Kursk Region.

By contrast, those “Ukrainian citizens whom the Russian military rescued from shelling” have been placed in temporary accommodation centers, provided with everything they need, and are free to move around, Moskalkova said.

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