Prisoner exchange gets under way in Ukraine

A major exchange of war prisoners is getting under way in eastern Ukraine, with about 370 expected to be released.

The pro-Russia rebels are set to release 150 Ukrainian prisoners in exchange for the Ukrainian government releasing 222 captives.

Russia’s Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies reported that the exchange was taking place on neutral ground between the sectors controlled by the insurgents and the government forces.

The exchange had been tentatively planned for earlier this week and the failure to conduct it pushed back another round of Ukraine peace talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, which was set for yesterday but was adjourned indefinitely.

The uprising by separatists began a month after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in March, following the popular overthrow of Ukraine’s Moscow-backed president. The conflict has killed more than 4,700 people.

The pro-Western government in Kiev accuses Russia of orchestrating the rebellion in Ukraine’s east, a charge denied by Moscow.

Exchanging prisoners is one of the criteria of a 12-point peace protocol, which also includes a ceasefire, agreed by Kiev and rebels in September. But most of the plan has not yet been implemented due to repeated violations of the ceasefire and because separatists defied Kiev by holding leadership elections.

Ukraine’s Interfax news agency quoted a rebel representative as saying the prisoners would be swapped by Tuesday, December 30. Lubkyvsky did not confirm this date, but said the exchange would happen “soon”.

It is not known exactly how many prisoners are currently held by the two sides, but Ukraine’s military said this month that around 600 Ukrainians were in rebel hands.

The military yesterday said rebels had slightly stepped up their attacks on Ukrainian positions in the east of the country and reported that one Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the past 24 hours.

“In the past two days, (rebel) fighters started using artillery and GRAD rocket launchers. Attacks have intensified to a minor extent,” said military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

“Rebels are using the ceasefire to regroup their forces.”