Ukraine: Letters from families to prisoners of war
For families of confirmed prisoners of war (POWs), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) encourages you to write letters to your loved one, which will be handed over to the detaining authorities.
To read this article in Ukrainian, please see our blog page here.
We know that after receiving a confirmation of captivity, families still live with the pain of a member of their family not being present for celebrations, milestones or just the day-to-day of life.
Families can write letters to their loved one in captivity, telling them of family news, and the ICRC will support the transmission of this letter to the detaining authorities.
After speaking to many released POWs, we know how much receiving a letter means to them. It brings hope, love and words of support during a challenging time, and often after a long period of time with no contact at all.
We know that some families have fears these letters may be mis-used. It is true that we cannot currently hand-deliver letters nor guarantee your loved one will receive them. But we do know the difference they make to POWs when they receive them, and we know the benefits they bring.
While it is the decision of each family to write letters or not, the ICRC will facilitate this transmission at a rate of one letter per family per week. The more letters written, the better the chances of a POW receiving them.
Frequently asked questions about letters
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The ICRC has a template (available as a PDF to download below) that can be printed, filled out, scanned and sent back to us.
Please note that the National Information Bureau has a system for hard-copy letters and specific requirements for these.
Digital letters facilitated by the ICRC
After downloading the above template, filling it in and scanning it, you can send this to KYI_tracing_services@icrc.org. ICRC staff will then compile letters each week and send onwards to the ICRC team in Moscow.
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Unfortunately, we are not currently able to hand-deliver letters as we would prefer.
However, we do know that thousands of letters have been delivered to POWs in the last years, and even one letter out of ten reaching their recipient makes an enormous difference to the one receiving it.
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If you choose to send a digital letter through scan, it will be quicker. Each week, we forward on all the digital letters we receive, either to the CTA-B in Geneva or our delegation in Moscow.
It is important to note that, once the ICRC has handed these letters to the Russian authorities, we have no control over the timeframe of then until when it reaches your loved one. We know not all letters reach their intended recipient.
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Please note the below suggestions do not suggest the ICRC endorses the restrictions that exist. However, we are realistic about the environment and situation in which POWs live each day and want your letter to reach your loved one in captivity. We believe the below advice gives this the best chance.
We encourage updates on family news or events, or simply words of love. Letting your loved one know you are thinking of them, waiting for their return, doing things each day that keep them with you. If babies have been born, if family members have gotten married or graduated school and how everyone is. Simple news from your daily life, what you are cooking, reading, doing, what the kids are playing or their hobbies is equally valuable to your loved one.
The ICRC is here to advise you should you want this.
While it is up to each family what they feel comfortable putting in these letters, we suggest avoiding information that could be linked to anything military-related, related to politics, or include Ukrainian-associated colours or symbols.
If you include family photos, please note there is a risk that these may end up in the public sphere. Recent reports from POWs released and repatriated in 2026 mentioned that some children’s drawings were allowed to be kept in the cell and hung up, so this is an option.
We also suggest that letters be written in Russian. As difficult as this may be for families, we believe doing this gives the letter the best chance of reaching your loved one in a timely manner. Guards may be asked to review letters for sensitivities before passing on, and if they cannot read what is in there, they may simply censor the entire thing.
