Ukraine, pro-Russia forces start prisoner swap

Ukraine and pro-Russia forces have started to swap hundreds of prisoners of war in line with a preliminary deal between the two sides.

The swap, which is the largest since the beginning of the crisis in eastern Ukraine eight months ago, began on Friday with the exchange of 30 captives from each side.

On Wednesday, a preliminary meeting between the Ukrainian officials and pro-Russia forces concluded in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, during which the two sides reached an agreement on a prisoner swap.

Ukrainian security services announced on Thursday that they have agreed to exchange 150 government troops with 225 pro-Russia gunmen.

Some 500 government soldiers would still be held by the pro-Russia forces after Friday’s exchange, Ukrainian security sources said.

They added that Ukraine would be willing to swap them for several dozen forces still languishing in the country’s jails.

The prisoner swap comes as a new round of talks between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russia forces in Minsk over a stable ceasefire in violence-scarred eastern Ukraine has been scrapped.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev started military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and re-joining the Russian Federation.

The West accuses Moscow of supporting the pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia has strongly denied the allegation.