KIEV, September 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Both sides in the Ukraine conflict have started the process of exchanging prisoners, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Andriy Lysenko told journalists on Monday.

“Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko took the question of prisoner exchanges under personal control the moment he was informed that the peace process had got underway,” Lysenko said.

“The process has started. It is already underway. Ukraine’s Security Service has set up a center to gather daily information about detained Ukrainian servicemen,” Lysenko said, adding some progress had already been made.

Lysenko, however, did not give any concrete figures on the number of prisoners of war or set any specific dates when concrete prisoners could be exchanged.

Earlier on Monday, Andrei Purgin, the vice-premier of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said that the sides could start swapping prisoners according to “all for all” principle on September 9.

“The first exchanges may take place tomorrow. I do hope that full-scale exchanges will get under way the day after tomorrow on Wednesday,” Purgin said.