World November 09, 15:00 – ITAR
KYIV, November 8. /TASS/. Kyiv forces are holding from 350 to 400 militias of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR), head of the Ukrainian prisoner exchange centre Vladimir Ruban said on air at the Ukrainian Hromadske TV channel on Saturday.
AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic
Pro-Kyiv forces, East-Ukrainian militia exchange prisoners of war near Luhansk
At least 250-300 fighters of the self-proclaimed republics are kept under the guard of Ukraine’s Security Service and Interior Ministry and another 100 militias “are staying temporarily” under control of law enforcers from other agencies,” Ruban said.
“Nearly 500 prisoners to date,” Ruban replied when asked how many Kyiv troops the LPR and DPR were holding.
Exchange of prisoners of war was a key posotion of the agreements reached at a Minsk meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5. Since then, there have been five such swaps in the Donetsk People’s Republic: 37 for 37, 70 for 70, 38 for 38, 28 for 28, and 30 (Ukrainian troops) for 60 (militias); and one swap in the Luhansk People’s Republic – 13 militias were exchanged for 14 Ukrainian troops on October 14. On October 28 Kyiv released eight militias and Luhansk – seven Ukrainian troops. On Friday, November 7, LPR militias and Kyiv representatives exchanged seven troops for five militias near the Schastye locality.