Head of the POW Exchange Center Volodymyr Ruban has said that the militants are currently holding over 650 people captive, and a number of these people have sided with the terrorists.
“According to specified lists, [there are] over 650 people,” he said in the air of “112.Ukraine” TV Channel.
He noted that the number also included people, who had sided with the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR), as “we’re leaving them in the POW list anyway.”
According to Ruban, ‘DPR defense minister’ spoke of the upcoming exchange in the format “40 for 40,” and if they keep silence after that, they might lay down additional conditions.
As for the alleged list of people that militants would never let go, he said: “Never say never. Everyone can be exchanged.”
“There’s no specific number [of people], whom [the militants] won’t let go or are trying not to. They said that they wouldn’t exchange soldiers from Donbas volunteer battalion, as well as Aidar. Some people have been transported across the border and are being kept in Russia. Some people, who voluntarily or under duress sided with DPR and LPR, also can’t be exchanged,” Ruban noted and added that making lists based on categories of persons was useless.
