Ukrainian Authorities, DPR Finish Prisoner Exchange

© REUTERS / Ukrainian Presidential Press ServiceUkraine's President Petro Poroshenko (C) greets a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war returning home after being exchanged for independence supporters, in Kiev.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (C) greets a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war returning home after being exchanged for independence supporters, in Kiev. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic has swapped 145 people detainees in exchange for 222 prisoners held by the Ukrainian military.

Forces of the Kiev government and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic started a prisoner exchange on Friday evening, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported. - Sputnik International
Kiev, Donetsk Begin Prisoner Swap
DONETSK, December 26 (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian authorities and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) have finished a prisoner exchange, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Friday.

The independence supporters have swapped 145 people detained by them in exchange for 222 prisoners held by the Ukrainian military. The prisoner swap took place approximately 22 miles north of Donetsk.

One of the captives reportedly refused to be handed over to the Ukrainian authorities and was allowed to stay in the Donetsk republic. A further five prisoners will be transferred from Luhansk on Saturday. Three captives returned to the DPR are said to be injured, one of them critically.

A Ukrainian soldier (C) stands guard as members of the eastern Ukrainian militia, who are prisoners-of-war (POWs), walk along a road as they wait to be exchanged, north of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, September 28, 2014 - Sputnik International
Donetsk, Kiev to Swap Prisoners Friday: Donetsk Official

On Thursday, it was announced that the Kiev government and the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk had agreed to exchange a total of 375 prisoners.

The "all-for-all" prisoner swap was agreed on between Kiev and east Ukrainian militias during a Contact Group meeting mediated by Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Minsk on September 19. Since then, the conflicting sides have conducted several rounds of prisoner exchanges. The last exchange took place in November.

The latest meeting of Contact Group took place in Minsk on Wednesday.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала