Eight officers from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and six border guards, who were held captive, have been released in the town of Horlivka, according to the 112 Ukraine channel.
“At this moment, Horlivka-based armed forces have released the eight officers as a gesture of good will. The border guards are free as well,” the channel said.
At the same time, militants are still holding at least four people captive.
On June 5, the commander of the so-called Horlivka garrison of the Donbas people’s armed forces (the group of Ihor Bezler, better known as Bes) posted a video address on the Internet in which he gives an ultimatum to the Ukrainian authorities and threatens to kill the captured Ukrainian officers. The video shows him apparently shooting the people dead. For their part, experts said that the video showing the execution by Bezler of the captives was a fake.
Later another video clip appeared on the Internet, showing one of the captives – Vasyl Budik – recounting how he voluntarily took part in the mock execution because of the refusal by Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov to swap prisoners several hours before a scheduled operation.
Bezler was prepared to swap the four captives for a woman who was held by Ukrainian security agencies, according to the television channel.
By midday on Wednesday, Budik, an SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) colonel and two fighters from the 25th Airborne Brigade were still held captive, the channel said. No talks over their release are held with the Ukrainian authorities.
