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Almost 600 prisoners returned from Ukraine since May 2014 - DPR human rights ombudsperson

DPR’s envoy to the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement Denis Pushilin said earlier that since the signing of the Minsk agreements on 5 September 2014, the sides held several prisoner exchanges

MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) returned 588 prisoners from Ukraine since May 2014, DPR office of human rights ombudsperson Daria Morozova said on Wednesday.

"From 7 May 2014, DPR ombudsperson Daria Morozova returned 588 people. A total of 611 prisoners were handed over to Kiev," Donetsk News Agency quoted the office as saying.

The human rights office reminded that the sixth point of the Package of measures on implementing the Minsk agreements envisages prisoner exchange on "all for all" basis. However, the full implementation of this point is yet impossible as Kiev sabotages the fifth point of the Minsk accords, the office noted. The fifth point envisages the amnesty of people connected with developments in Donbass.

DPR’s envoy to the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement Denis Pushilin said earlier that since the signing of the Minsk agreements on 5 September 2014 (Minsk I), the sides held several prisoner exchanges. Ukraine released 287 people, while self-defense forces handed over to Kiev 317 people.

Minsk agreements on Ukraine

The Minsk accords (Minsk II) were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko.

The Minsk accords envisage ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local election in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords.

The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements.

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Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine

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