Kiev in the first of this year’s exchange of prisoners returned home 20 Ukrainians and gave the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics 14 people, including two citizens of Russia

OFC Of The President Of Ukraine / Facebook

The exchange was conducted in the framework of the Minsk agreements reached at the Normandy Quartet summit in December 2019

OFC Of The President Of Ukraine / Facebook

Kiev in the first of this year’s exchange of prisoners returned home 20 Ukrainians and gave the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics 14 people, including two citizens of Russia. For the first time the Ukrainian side returned more people than passed, reports RBC – Ukraine. Among the released citizens of Ukraine, two soldiers, one police officer and 17 civilians.

The exchange was conducted in the framework of the Minsk agreements reached at the Normandy Quartet summit in December 2019. During the exchange with the Donetsk Kiev gave 10 and got a 9. One man, originally on the list, refused to return to the NPT. The procedure took place at Gorlovka in the area of PPC “Maori” under the supervision of representatives of Special monitoring mission of the OSCE and the International Committee of the red cross.

In the second stage exchange to Kiev from Lugansk back 11 prisoners, in the LC from Kiev – four. “As a result of a survey of persons who were to be transferred to LC, three people expressed their willingness to remain in the territory of Ukraine”, – said the head of the working group LC for the exchange of prisoners Olga Kobzeva, explaining that the objectors on the Kiev-controlled territory are home and family.

Kobzeva added that among those released by Kiev two Russians. Their voluntary participation in the exchange was recorded by the Consul of the Russian Federation, RIA “Novosti”. The exchange occurred on the contact line near the bridge in the village of Happiness. Both procedures went without incident. Participants in the exchange from both sides because of the coronavirus will be placed on a two-week quarantine.

The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said that he would fight for the liberation of all held in DND and LNR Ukrainian. Deputy foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko called the last exchange “step in the right direction” according to the outcome of the Paris summit in the Normandy format. Moscow expects to reach new agreements during the videoconference of the contact group in Minsk on April 22.