Kyiv: Some 73 Ukrainian prisoners freed on Wednesday, 233 people handed over to Donetsk, Luhansk

Published Dec. 27, 2017 at 8:26 pm

Ukrainian servicemen who were made prisoners wait during a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels on the check-point near the city of Gorlivka on Dec. 27. Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels swapped hundreds of prisoners in the war-torn east of the country on Dec. 27, one of the largest such exchanges since the outbreak of an insurgency in 2014. The swap of captives on a dusty road close to the town of Gorlivka, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the rebels' stronghold of Donetsk is an attempt to revive a tattered peace deal between the Kyiv army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

Photo by AFP

Seventy-three Ukrainians, who have been held in the areas outside Kyiv’s control, were freed during the exchange of captives in Donbas on Wednesday, Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko, who represents Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group’s humanitarian subgroup, has said.

“Hostages were released in the area of Mayorsk, Donetsk region, on December 27. Some 73 Ukrainians, who have been illegally held in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, were freed from the prisons run by militants,” the Verkhovna Rada’s press service quoted Gerashchenko as saying on Wednesday evening.

In turn, the Ukrainian side has handed over 233 people by pardoning them and releasing them from custody, she said.