Ukraine and rebel forces in prisoner swap

UKRAINE and Russian-backed rebels yesterday began to exchange more than 300 prisoners in the war-torn east of the country, the largest such swap since the insurgency broke out in 2014.

The swap between the Kiev army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics took place at a checkpoint close to the town of Gorlovka, 25 miles northeast of the rebels’ stronghold of Donetsk.

In the first exchange since September 2016, the Russian-backed eastern militia was handing over to Kiev some 70 prisoners, officials from both sides said. The Ukrainian side for its part was releasing some 300 rebels.

The swap on the eve of the New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays was agreed following negotiations involving Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s leader Petro Poroshenko.

The swap is in line with the so-called Minsk agreements brokered in 2015.