CHECKPOINT MAYORSKE - Ukraine: Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country’s war-torn east exchanged 200 prisoners on Sunday, swapping detained fighters for civilians and servicemen held captive in some cases for years in the breakaway regions.
“The mutual release of the detainees has ended,” the presidential office in Kiev said in a statement on Facebook.
Kiev was expected to hand over to separatists several riot policemen suspected of killing protesters during a pro-Western uprising in 2014 as part of the swap, sparking public outrage.
The exchange came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky held their first face-to-face talks in Paris on December 9 and agreed measures to de-escalate Europe’s only active war.
Prisoners filed off coaches at the heavily-guarded Mayorske checkpoint in the eastern Donetsk region, many carrying plastic bags stuffed with their belongings.
Among the group of detainees handed over by the separatists were those who said they had been held for several years after getting caught up in the conflict while visiting relatives.
Volodymyr Danylchenko, who said he had spent three years in captivity, said he was at a loss to describe his feelings.
“I myself don’t understand what’s happened,” said the 36-year-old, adding he was leaving his mother behind in the separatist region of Lugansk.
The total number of people involved in the exchange was still unclear on Sunday but the Ukrainian presidency said the “first 25” would soon be home. Olga Kobtseva, an official in charge of the swap at the Lugansk stronghold, said the region handed over 25 people and received 63.
SEPARATIST CAPTIVITY
Ukraine’s top rights official Lyudmila Denisova said Kiev received four servicemen who had spent “a long time” in separatist captivity.
Another detainee released by the separatists, who gave just her first name Victoria, said she had been held for three years.
“I am so happy,” the 24-year-old said adding that she had been convicted of “state treason” and sentenced to 12 years in prison after arriving in the Lugansk stronghold to see her parents.
Another woman being handed to Kiev sported a hand-written sign on her clothing: “My country is Ukraine!”
The swap, which was overseen by monitors from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, came three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each.
The previous prisoner swap between Kiev and separatists took place in 2017. Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after the bloody 2014 uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime.
Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine, who launched a bid for independence in 2014. Since then more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The potential release of the riot police has raised concerns in Ukraine, with many fearing the country is being pushed to pay too high a price for the swap.
Ahead of the exchange three riot policemen were released from custody while another two were freed from house arrest.
The riot policemen are suspected to have been involved in the bloody crackdown on protesters in 2014. Some 100 demonstrators were shot dead during the uprising.— AFP
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