Due to Trilateral Contact Group, POWs are no longer subject to torture in eastern Ukraine
One of the results of the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was the cessation of the torture of the Ukrainian soldiers held in captivity in the Donbass region. This was stated by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine, Irina Herashchenko.
Herashchenko said that these prisoners, who are held captive by members of the so-called People's Republics in the Donbas, have stopped being tortured. According to her, this was due to the negotiations in Minsk.
She said that the main problem faced by the Minsk group is trying to get the “other side” to link the condition of the release of these prisoners to the amnesty. “"Yesterday the representative of Russia, Boris Gryzlov, once again mentioned this requirement,” Herashchenko added.
On the 20th of February, the first exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) was implemented. The “three-for-six” formula was applied. Ukrainian forces exchanged six members of the so-called DPR. The separatists in turn released two signalers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a fighter of the Donbas battalion.
A previous exchange of prisoners took place on the 15th of November 2015. Emergency workers of the so-called DPR, who were detained by the Security Service of Ukraine, were released at that time. The exchange of prisoners between the parties of the conflict in the east of Ukraine is stipulated in the Minsk Agreements.