KIEV, September 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The Ukrainian Center for the release of prisoners published on Tuesday on its Facebook account a list of 504 people, who are considered missing in the southeast of the country as of September 22.

The list has been compiled in line with data acquired by the center and may contain some inaccuracies, while information on some of the listed people may be subject to change within each day or two, the center’s statement said.

Prisoner swap is one of the key points of the agreement signed in Minsk on September 5 at the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine. Since then, the sides have swapped hostages four times.

Prisoner swaps

On Saturday, September 20, the the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Kiev exchanged prisoners of war in the format of ‘38 for 38’. The following day the sides exchanged prisoners of war in the ‘28 for 28’ format. The exchange, which took place 60 kilometers (over 37 miles) from Donetsk, was observed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission.

The Ukrainian presidential envoy for peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine, Irina Heraschenko, said in early September that around 1,000 captives had been freed and more than 2,400 people were missing.

Under the Minsk agreement, signed at talks mediated by the OSCE, the warring parties are to exchange all prisoners of war. The sides to the Ukrainian conflict also agreed on a ceasefire that took effect the same day.

Daria Morozova, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Committee on Prisoners of War told ITAR-TASS on Monday that another round of prisoners’ swap would take place on Wednesday and most likely in the ’60 for 60’ format.

Military conflict in eastern Ukraine

Fierce clashes between troops loyal to Kiev and local militias in the southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions during Kiev’s military operation to regain control over the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics left thousands killed, inflicted massive destruction and forced hundreds of thousands to flee Ukraine’s southeast.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said earlier in the month that according to latest UN estimations at least 3,000 people were killed since the conflict erupted in mid-April.