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Kiev Prepares 29 Prisoners of War to be Handed to Self-Proclaimed Republics

Rubric: Ex-USSR, Conflicts

Ukraine, at talks in the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk, has handed representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR) a list of 29 captives that Kiev is ready to hand to militiamen.

"When the LPR raised at the last meeting the issue of prisoner swaps, the Ukrainian side provided its list of 29 people ready to be exchanged. The LPR, at the time, drafted a list of four people," a source close to the negotiating process told the Donetsk News Agency.

Eastern Ukraine

Earlier, the LPR’s representative in the humanitarian subgroup Olga Kobtseva told media that during discussion of the law on amnesty in Minsk on October 6, the unrecognized Luhansk republic expressed readiness to immediately hand Ukraine five people, TASS reports.

According to data from the DPR ombudsman’s staff, the Ukrainian side holds 458 militiamen, among them 199 civilians who have nothing to do with the conflict in Donbas. Over 400 people are listed as missing and may also be in Ukrainian captivity.

Within the framework of official swaps during the conflict, the DPR and LPR militias handed Kiev 317 prisoners, and the Ukrainian side freed 287 people.

The "all-for-all" format prisoner exchange and amnesty of participants of the conflict in Donbas are envisioned by the Package of Measures on implementation of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, which is the fundamental document of peace settlement.