Updated on 06:47 p.m. Moscow Time
DONETSK, September 8 (RIA Novosti) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine confirmed Monday it had handed over 28 captured Ukrainian servicemen under the prisoner swap agreement reached in Minsk last week.
“It [the prisoner swap] takes place every day. Yesterday we handed over 28 captives and received even more in return,” DPR Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko said.
Earlier the same day, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security Council, Andriy Lysenko said approximately 20 captives have been returned to Kiev after a ceasefire was imposed in eastern Ukraine. Kiev has also expressed hopes that the prisoner exchange will be on a larger scale.
During the September 5 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk, representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to a ceasefire between Kiev and independence supporters. The ceasefire started at 15:00 GMT the same day.
On September 6, Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko told the press in Moscow that the Ukrainian "prisoners of war" would be transferred to the Ukrainian side on the same day. However, as of Monday morning, they still remained captive in Donetsk.
The prisoner swap between Kiev and eastern Ukrainian pro-independence forces under the “all for all” scheme was also aming the agreements reached in Minsk on September 5.
