Independence Supporters, Ukrainian Forces Exchange Prisoners in ’28 to 28 …
Updated 4:05 p.m. Moscow Time
DONESTK, September 21 (RIA Novosti) – Independence supporters and Ukrainian forces will each exchange 28 prisoners Sunday, a representative of the Donetsk committee on prisoner exchange told RIA Novosti.
“Today, there will be an exchange in the ’28 to 28′ format,” the representative said.
He also confirmed the exchange will be conducted a few hours later not far from Donetsk.
On Saturday, each of the sides already exchanged 38 prisoners in Donbas. The exchange took place some 30 kilometers (approximately 19 miles) north of Donetsk. The Saturday swap was previously scheduled for September 18 but did not take place since the DPR prisoner exchange committee had not received a confirmation from Kyiv at that point.
The exchange of prisoners on September 20 was preceded by the exchange that took place on September 14. Both sides exchanged 73 prisoners.
A ceasefire agreement between Kyiv and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine was established on September 5 during a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. The warring sides have repeatedly blamed each other for violating the ceasefire regime; however, both sides state that, for the most part, the ceasefire is holding, which has also been confirmed by international observers.
In April, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the pro-independence movement of the country’s southeast. The five-month conflict has killed over 3,000 people, according to UN estimates.
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