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Kiev claims holding nearly 400 prisoners of war

Exchange of prisoners of war was a key posotion of the agreements reached at a Minsk meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5

© ITAR-TASS/EPA/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO

KIEV, November 8. /TASS/. Kiev forces are holding from 350 to 400 militias of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Luhansk (LPR), head of the Ukrainian prisoner exchange centre Vladimir Ruban said on air at the Ukrainian Hromadske TV channel on Saturday.

Read also

Pro-Kiev forces, East-Ukrainian militia exchange prisoners of war near Luhansk

At least 250-300 fighters of the self-proclaimed republics are kept under the guard of Ukraine’s Security Service and Interior Ministry and another 100 militias “are staying temporarily” under control of law enforcers from other agencies,” Ruban said.

“Nearly 500 prisoners to date,” Ruban replied when asked how many Kiev troops the LPR and DPR were holding.

Exchange of prisoners of war was a key posotion of the agreements reached at a Minsk meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine on September 5. Since then, there have been five such swaps in the Donetsk People’s Republic: 37 for 37, 70 for 70, 38 for 38, 28 for 28, and 30 (Ukrainian troops) for 60 (militias); and one swap in the Luhansk People’s Republic - 13 militias were exchanged for 14 Ukrainian troops on October 14. On October 28 Kiev released eight militias and Luhansk - seven Ukrainian troops. On Friday, November 7, LPR militias and Kiev representatives exchanged seven troops for five militias near the Schastye locality.

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