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Ukraine separatists say to swap prisoners with Kiev Sunday
MOSCOW, Dec 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian
separatists in the east of the country have agreed to swap several dozen
prisoners on Sunday, the self-declared rebel republic of Donetsk said.
“Kiev and the Donbass (a term used to refer to rebel-held eastern Ukraine)
have reached an accord on an exchange of prisoners… this Sunday December
29,” Donetsk government spokeswoman Daria Morozova said in a statement.
There was no immediate confirmation from Kiev, but both sides said earlier
this month they would carry out a prisoner exchange by the end of the year,
following high-profile peace talks in Paris.
The swap would come three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited
exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each.
More than 13,000 people have been killed and one million have fled their
homes since pro-Russia militias in eastern Ukraine launched a bid for
independence in 2014 — kicking off a conflict that deepened Russia’s
estrangement from the West.
At the Paris summit on December 23, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia
and Ukraine agreed to implement a full ceasefire and proceed with a new
withdrawal of forces from conflict zones by March 2020.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1549 hs