DONETSK, November 1 (RIA- Novosti) — Another prisoner exchange has taken place on Saturday between the Donetsk self-defense forces and Ukrainian armed forces, a RIA Novosti correspondent in Donetsk has reported.
The exchange was held according to the "25 for 25" format.
The Donetsk militias stated that among those handed over to them by Kiev were a lot of civilians and heavily injured fighters.
On October 28, Lilia Radionova, an official from Donetsk dealing with issues related to prisoner exchange, told RIA Novosti that Kiev forces and the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk (DPR) were making preparations to conduct another prisoner exchange in the near future. She added that on October 28 eight independence fighters were handed over in exchange for a same number of Ukrainian servicemen.
According to Radionova, Kiev forces and independence fighters resumed the exchange of prisoners following the Ukrainian parliamentary elections that took place on October 26.
An armed conflict started in Ukraine in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the country's southeastern regions.
Exchange of prisoners between independence fighters and Kiev forces is one of the provisions of the ceasefire agreed during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5 in Minsk and of memorandum specifying the implementation of the ceasefire adopted at another meeting in Minsk on September 19.
