Kyiv and Ukraine militias exchange prisoners – report
Defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic have exchanged a batch of prisoners with the Ukrainian army in a move that was stipulated as one of the key issues of the Minsk ceasefire agreement reached between the two sides last week.
“The exchange has
taken place,” a representative of the DPR’s defense ministry
told Interfax. “We handed 36 prisoners over to the Kyiv side
in exchange for 31 our supporters. Five more Kyiv promises to
hand over tomorrow.”
Earlier on Thursday, the deputy PM of the DPR, Andrey Purgin,
told RIA that it was the Kyiv side that has been stalling the
planned exchange, while Col. Andrey Lysenko, the spokesman for
Ukraine’s National Security Council, blamed the rebels‘ ”lack
of consistency“ for disrupting the swap.
“For the fourth day we are trying to exchange [the
captives],” Purgin said, adding that he hopes the swap will
finally take place on Thursday night.A special exchange group has been
created which compiled a combined list of people subject to
exchange, he said, adding that the list could be amended if the
need arises.
Under the terms of the ceasefire signed in Minsk on September
5th, both sides of the conflict have agreed to swap prisoners on
an “all-for-all” basis as a sign of good will as adversaries look
for ways to create permanent peace in the region.
Ukraine peace
plan: Withdraw military hardware, exchange POWs, open
corridors
Other key issues that the Minsk contact group on Ukraine agreed
on include a ceasefire and withdrawal of military hardware, and
opening corridors for humanitarian aid access to the
conflict-torn regions.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that
immediately after the Minsk agreement was signed, Kyiv received
700 of its servicemen back and was expecting another 500 to be
transferred by the end of the week. At the same time, Kyiv claims
to hold some 300 members of the anti-government forces. However,
at least 1,000 more remain missing, according to self-proclaimed
republics, some of whom could also be held captive.