Herashchenko: 127 Ukrainians are still held by separatists in the Donbas
The Commissioner of the President for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Lugansk regions and Ukraine’s representative to the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine-Russia-OSCE), Iryna Herashchenko, stated at a press conference on the 17th of February that 127 Ukrainians are held captive by militants.
“Currently, we have 137 Ukrainians, who are illegally held captive. Ten of them are held in Russian prisons,” the Ukrainian news quoted her as saying. According to Herashchenko, the ten people who are held in Russian prisons, should also be considered hostages. Iryna Herashchenko noted that active work on the possible exchange of prisoners is currently ongoing.
Earlier, Herashchenko stated that prisoners have become hostages of Russian policy. As reported by UNIAN, referring to the Press Secretary for Leonid Kuchma, Darya Olifer, the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in the Donbas will take place in Minsk on the 17th of February. The last time the Trilateral Contact Group met was on the 27th of January.
The release and exchange of prisoners was an integral point of the Minsk II ceasefire agreement.