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Prisoners pardoned by Poroshenko to be handed over to self-proclaimed republics

KIEV, December 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has pardoned nine of the 15 prisoners Kiev promised to hand over to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR, LPR) before the end of the year, Ukraine’s envoy to the Contact Group’s humanitarian subgroup, Irina Gerashchenko, said on Thursday.

"The president has pardoned most of these 15 people, including six women," she wrote on her Facebook page.

Gerashchenko earlier noted that the prisoners could be released after being pardoned by the president. The presidential decree of pardon mentions nine prisoners whose names are not disclosed.

Kiev earlier promised to release 15 prisoners from the two self-proclaimed republics before the end of the year.

Ukraine’s envoy to the humanitarian subgroup also noted that Kiev expects "with cautious optimism" that the process of releasing prisoners to be unblocked. "The work of the humanitarian subgroup in Minsk yesterday was dedicated entirely to this," Gerashchenko noted, adding that a video conference on the issue could be held on Friday.