Ukrainian Forces Detain 5 Donetsk Citizens Over Past Week – DPR Ombudsman
DONETSK (Sputnik) — “Over the past week, two soldiers and three civilians were registered detained by the Ukrainian side,” the spokesman told journalists.
According to the spokesman, Ukraine holds some 1101 people, including 361 servicemen, 569 imprisoned for their political views and 171 civilians, not related to the conflict.
DPR authorities are willing to exchange prisoners in the format prescribed by the Minsk agreements, spokesman added.
According to him, Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have made proposals on exchange process in accordance with the requirements of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), however, Kyiv rejected them.
“Over the past week, one DPR soldier was killed. On January 17, one civilian was injured in a mine blast in Novoazovsk (24 miles east of Mariupol)…,” the spokesman added.
Kyiv launched a special military operation in Donbass in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), established in Ukraine’s southeast after the May 2014 independence referendums, have been calling for autonomy from Kyiv.
In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between the two sides in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, a weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms, which would give a special status to DPR and LPR.
According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has been tasked with monitoring the implementation of the Minsk peace deal, ceasefire violations have recently increased in Ukraine’s southeastern Donetsk region.
Over 9,000 people have fallen victim to the conflict, according to UN figures.