Ukraine swaps 127 prisoners including defendants of Maidan massacre to 76 Ukrainians held in occupied Donbas

The swaths of the Donbas - Ukrainian easternmost oblasts of Luhansk and Donetsk - have been occupied by Russia since 2014. About 14,000 people were killed in the ongoing conflict. The all-for-all prisoner exchange is among the paragraphs of the Minsk protocols signed in the Belarusian capital back in September 2014 and in February 2015 to settle the conflict in the Donbas. Among the signees were the members of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), representing Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE. The signatures of Russian-appointed leaders of "LNR" and "DNR" emerged under both documents shortly after they were signed. A few exchanges occurred under Minsk protocols. However, all of the Ukrainian prisoners held in occupied Donbas were never released and most of the time, the swaps were effectively blocked by Russia. The previous prisoner swap in the ORDLO took place two years ago, in December 2017, when 73 captives held in the occupied Donbas were exchanged to 233 prisoners.

Read more: Largest prisoner swap in Donbas: 73 Ukrainians released from captivity of Russian-run "republics" (2017)

Even after the 233-to-73 exchange in 2017, at least 103 more Ukrainians remained hostage in ORDLO and 402 more were considered missing, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Meanwhile, earlier this year the NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights had the names of 119 Ukrainian hostages held in ORDLO on their list. The intention to exchange prisoners once again was included in the communique of the peace talks of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany in Paris on 9 December in the so-called Normandy Four format. Later, the TCG negotiated the lists and details of the exchange at closed-door meetings.

Read also: An unequal exchange: the spies and terrorists Russia got for releasing Oleg Sentsov and 34 other Ukrainian political prisoners & POWs

Controversy

Among others, Ukraine is going to hand over the officers of the Berkut riot police who have been tried in court on mass murder charges of Euromaidan activists back in 2014. The handover of the key suspects will effectively stall the Euromaidan case.

Read also: Case of Euromaidan massacre may never be solved as Berkut suspects freed for prisoner exchange with Russia

Other controversial figures to be swapped are three Kharkiv terrorists, sentenced to life imprisonment for killing four people in a terrorist attack on the participants of the march on the first anniversary of Euromaidan on 22 February 2015. Ukrainian political scientist Olexiy Haran says that "Releasing the ex Berkut operatives or Kharkiv terrorists in no means fits into Paragraphs 2 and 6 of the Minsk-2, dealing with the events in ORDLO." The Maidan massacre defendants, who have nothing to with ongoing conflict in the Donbas, have been apparently put on the exchange list on Russia's demand. And the Ukrainian readiness to hand them over to Russian occupational authorities of ORDLO shows that the Russian demands go unchallenged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The course of the exchange

UNIAN reports that Ukraine is going to hand over 87 people, while the members of the "LNR" and "DNR" will return 55 Ukrainians, citing a representative of the "DNR". The Office of the Ukrainian President reported that the exchange started at 11:00 Kyiv time (GMT+2). Though the exact number of those to be exchanged has not yet been specified.   The video published by the Presidential Office on Facebook at 10:30 shows the beginning of the prisoner exchange at Mayorsk - the Ukraine-controlled suburb of occupied Horlivka: At 13:00 the Office reported on Twitter that the first 25 Ukrainians have been released. 15:57 Update "The mutual release of the detained persons has finished. Our 76 are safe at the Ukraine-controlled territory. Details later," the Presidential Office reports on Twitter. 16:20 Update

Donetsk journalist Stanislav Aseiev (second L on screenshot) is among the released Ukrainians. He spend 2.5 years in captivity - 962 days https://t.co/Dt2df54aZt pic.twitter.com/giX2hF7R9E

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 29, 2019

16:24 Update The exact number of those swapped is not known so far. The initial reports mentioned 87 prisoners held in Ukraine to be exchanged for 55 Ukrainians held in captivity in occupied Luhansk and Donetsk. UNIAN cited a "DNR" source as saying that about 20 people held in Ukrainian prisons refused to be handed over to ORDLO. The latest report by the President's Office says that 76 Ukrainians have been released. 16:39 Update Serhiy Syvokho, an aide to the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, says that Ukraine returned 76 people and gave over 127. 14 more refused to go to occupied Donetsk and Luhansk. The reaction of the US Embassy in Ukraine:

pic.twitter.com/ttcCVXdGCh

— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) December 29, 2019

17:00 Update The official list of the released Ukrainians hasn't been published yet. Among those mentioned in official reports and identified by journalists and social network users are:

• Roman His, 23-year-old Donetsk resident, sentenced by a sham court in occupied Donetsk to 11 years in prison for 'espionage';
• Oleh Halaziuk, Donetsk blogger held by "DNR" since August 2017;
• Bohdan Pantiushenko, a Ukrainian tankman captured in January 2015;
• Stanislav Aseiev, Donetsk blogger and journalist;
• Olena Sorokina, an owner of a pet shop in Pervomaysk, Luhansk Oblast who went missing in 2018:

• Maj. Serhiy Ivanchuk, in captivity since February 2017;
• Sgt. Ivan Deiev, in captivity since February 2017;
• Sgt. Roman Fursov;
• Tetiana Horbulych, a Schastia local abducted in Luhansk where she had visited her daughter on 'espionage' charges.
• Viktoria Voronina, a Luhansk resident accused of 'espionage':

Three more "Ukrainian spies" were the drivers who carried people from and to the occupied territory:

• Alchevsk resident Eduard Aloian;
• Antratsit resident Valeriy Tarasiuk;
• Dovzhansk local  Denys Oleinykov.

17:38 Update The Security Service of Ukraine has published the full list of the Ukrainians released from captivity "under the patronage of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy." The list includes 12 prisoners of war, three of which were in captivity since 2015, and 64 civilians, 17 of which were illegally imprisoned since 2015-2016. 17:55 Update Brazilian national Rafael Lusvarghi convicted in Ukraine for participation in a terrorist organization was among those handed over to the occupied territory, according to his lawyer.

---

https://twitter.com/XSovietNews/status/1211321933180162050