MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev has swapped a group of men, women and teenagers who never fought in eastern Ukraine's armed conflict for actual prisoners of war previously held by the independence supporters of Donetsk and Luhansk, The New York Times reported.
"I am a civilian and I was included just to fill out the numbers," 17-year-old Nikita Podikov, who was a part of the prisoner exchange held Sunday, was quoted by The New York Times as saying in an article published Wednesday. "They arrested me, beat me for two days and then kept me for trading," Podikov explained.
According to the media, only seven of 28 people given up by the Ukrainian side were actual fighters, while the others were arrested in different parts of Ukraine for political actions such as calling for the autonomy of Donetsk and Luhansk or distributing leaflets. The independence supporters, however, brought real prisoners of war for the exchange.
In mid-April, Ukrainian authorities launched a special military operation to suppress independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government and southeastern Ukraine's independence supporters agreed on a ceasefire and an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange on September 5 at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine held in Minsk
The most recent prisoner exchange between Ukrainian security forces and DPR militia took place on Sunday when each side handed over 28 captives.
