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Lugansk expects another prisoner swap with Kiev by end of February

The republics have submitted their prisoner swap lists to the Ukrainian side

LUGANSK, December 24. /TASS/. Another prisoner swap in eastern Ukraine may take place until late February, a negotiator of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) has said.

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Moscow welcomes prisoner swap between Kiev and Donbass — diplomat

"Another prisoner swap may take place until the end of this winter," Luganskinformtsentr quoted Olga Kobtseva, an LPR representative at the Contact Group’s humanitarian subgroup.

"The republics have submitted their prisoner swap lists to the Ukrainian side. The names are expected to be verified during the upcoming meeting in Minsk," she added

The self-proclaimed republics and Kiev exchanged lists of prisoners during the Contact group meeting on January 18. Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Human Rights Ombudsperson Darya Morozova said on January 22 that the DPR would request Kiev to hand over 84 prisoners.

On December 27, 2017, a prisoner swap, the largest so far, took place on the line of contact in Donbass. Kiev handed 233 prisoners to the Donbass republics and received 73 prisoners in return. Both parties stressed that the prisoner exchange process had not been completed and they were determined to do everything possible to continue it in 2018.

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