Herashchenko: 170 Ukrainian citizens illegally held captive in Donbas
The first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, the President's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the issues of the Donbas, Iryna Herashchenko spoke with journalists on the night of December 25 after meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
In answer to questions from the journalists of 112 Ukraine TV, she declared that currently, 170 citizens of Ukraine are being illegally detained in separatist-held Donbas. Ukrayinski Pravda published several details about the most recent updates on the matter.
"We use the lists of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Minsk Group [TCG on Donbas issues]. Today we have disappointing information about the number of hostages. The meeting was attended by [head of the SBU Vasyl] Hrytsak... According to the updated information, 170 citizens are considered to be illegally detained on the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics or ORDLO," Herashchenko stated.
She explained that the precise number is known because relatives or friends of these people addressed the relevant appeals to the SBU. "The ORDLO representatives confirm that not all of these citizens are being kept. Militants confirm only 97 people for today. 74 of them will be released on December 27," added the People's Deputy.
Herashchenko has refused to disclose the names of prisoners who are prepared for exchange and other details of the arrangements.
On December 25, the leader of DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko announced that the exchange of prisoners would take place on December 27.
The Russian president's friend (Vladimir Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter) and the negotiator from Ukraine in the Tripartite contact group in Minsk, Viktor Medvedchuk stated that the exchange of prisoners will take place according to the previously agreed formula "306 by 74."
Earlier on Monday, December 25, Medvedchuk met with the ORDLO leaders and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.
On December 20, the Tripartite Contact Group in Minsk confirmed the plans of the parties on the detained persons’ exchange before the New Year.
Earlier, the separatists sent to the Minsk group additional lists of people who are required to be included in the list of persons for exchange, which led to the disruption of the prisoner exchange.