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Donetsk Says Prisoner Swap with Kiev Put Off Until Thursday

© RIA Novosti . Gennady Dubovoy / Go to the mediabankKiev postponed an agreed prisoner swap until Thursday
Kiev postponed an agreed prisoner swap until Thursday - Sputnik International
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The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said Wednesday the Kiev government had postponed an agreed prisoner swap until Thursday.

MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said Wednesday the Kiev government had postponed an agreed prisoner swap until Thursday.

“We initially agreed to exchange prisoners today, but then they [the Kiev government] postponed it until tomorrow,” a spokesman for the Donetsk self-defense forces command said.

Each side is expected to exchange 36 prisoners.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that about 700 captives have already been handed over to Kiev by the eastern Ukrainian self-defense forces since the Contact Group signed a peace protocol in Minsk. Some 500 more are expected to be released by the end of the week, according to the president.

Kiev says it holds about 300 captive militia fighters. Over 1,000 independence supporters are missing while DPR believes that some of them could also be kept prisoners.

During the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk on September 5, the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to a ceasefire between the Kiev forces and independence supporters. The sides also agreed to the international monitoring of the truce implementation, the “all to all” prisoner exchange and humanitarian aid access to the troubled regions.

Ukraine has been engulfed in violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country. According to United Nations’ estimates, some 3,000 people have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded since the start of the offensive.

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