Kiev, rebels exchange prisoners
GORLIVKA: Ukraine and Russianbacked rebels have swapped hundreds of prisoners in the wartorn east of the country, one of the largest such exchanges since the outbreak of an insurgency almost four years ago.
The swap of captives, close to this town, 40km northeast of the rebels’ stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday, was an attempt to revive a tattered peace deal between the Kiev army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
The war in the former Soviet republic broke out in April 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea the previous month.
The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives. A series of truce deals has lowered the level of violence, but did not end the bloodshed.
In the first exchange since September last year, the Russian-backed eastern militia handed 73 prisoners to Kiev. The Ukrainian side released 233 rebels and their supporters, officials from both sides said.
The figures were significantly lower than previously declared, as dozens of prisoners — almost all from the Ukrainian territory — had refused to move to the other side.
Some of the detainees expressed relief after spending long months, and even years, in captivity.
“I was in captivity for two years,” said historian Igor Kozlovskiy, 63, who was captured by Donetsk rebels on suspicion of storing weapons.
“Still many prisoners remain (behind bars in Donetsk),” he said before he was handed over to the representatives of Ukraine. AFP