MOSCOW, September 13 (RIA Novosti) – The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine has confirmed the simultaneous release of 68 prisoners in the eastern Donetsk region, an OSCE report published late Friday says.
"The SMM observed the simultaneous release of 68 hostages/prisoners in the Donetsk region," the report states.
"The Ukrainian side handed over 31 members of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' ('DPR'), whilst the 'DPR' side handed over 37 Ukrainian servicemen," the report adds.
According to the report, the release of prisoners took place close to the town of Avdeevka, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) north of the city of Donetsk, "in the early hours" of September 12.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that militia in southeastern Ukraine had released 57 Ukrainian prisoners, captured during the standoff between independence supporters and Kiev forces.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president said that about 700 captives had already been handed over to Kiev by independence forces and that some 500 more would be released by the end of the week.
Representatives of the Ukrainian government the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk agreed to an "all for all" prisoner exchange during the September 5 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. The sides also agreed to a ceasefire which started at 15:00 GMT on the same day.
