No progress on release of hostages — Poroshenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said there is no progress on the release of all hostages by Russian forces, especially Nadiya Savchenko. Poroshenko discussed the issue during his phone conversation with French President François Hollande, on Tuesday, March 10, the president's press service reports. "Poroshenko stressed the importance of releasing all hostages, especially Nadiya Savchenko, and he noted the lack of progress on this issue," the report states. The release of all prisoners is one of the requirements of the Minsk-2 agreements reached by the four negotiating parties on February 12. However, Russia and its terrorist forces have met the requirements only partially. On March 4, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that 195 Ukrainian military personnel are still imprisoned by Russian-terrorist forces, and that the location of 340 military is still being determined. On February 21, 139 Ukrainian military were released in exchange for 52 detained "separatists." On March 7, five more prisoners were released. As previously reported, Russia is still holding Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko and film director Oleh Sentsov.