Kiev, Donetsk Begin Negotiations on Next Prisoner Swap: DPR Official

According to a DPR official, less than 30 Ukrainian soldiers are detained in Donetsk, while Kiev still holds some 220 prisoners.

MOSCOW, January 4 (Sputnik) — Representatives of Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic have begun negotiations on the next exchange of prisoners, DPR's human rights ombudsman Darya Morozova said Sunday.

“We have started [talks] and are currently negotiating the exchange of war prisoners. The date of the exchange is yet unknown,” Morozova was cited as saying by the Donetsk news agency.

According to the DPR official, less than 30 Ukrainian soldiers are detained in Donetsk, while Kiev still holds some 220 prisoners.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko instructed the heads of the country’s law enforcement agencies to intensify their efforts to release the Ukrainian soldiers who remain detained in Donbas.

The last prisoner swap between Kiev and Donbas militia took place on December 26, when the DPR handed over 145 prisoners, while Kiev returned 222.

Kiev and the militia in the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk agreed to a ceasefire and an "all-for-all" exchange of prisoners during talks in Minsk in September, brokered by the OSCE and Russia.

Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the sides have repeatedly accused each other of breaking the truce, continuing, however, to carry out prisoner swaps.