As many as 3,136 Ukrainian citizens have been freed from captivity or found since the start of the Donbas hostilities, while 416 others have gone missing, advisor to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) chief Yuriy Tandit said.

"Regretfully, the number of hostages has been growing," with 118 persons being illegally held in Donetsk and Luhansk at the moment, Tandit said. "However, the confirmed number of [...] our hostages stands at 60," Tandit said in a program aired by Channel 5 on Monday.

"There is another important number, and I am saying this for the first time: 3,136 persons have been either released or found [throughout the period of hostilities], and 416 persons are listed as missing," Tandit said.

In addition, he noted that the lists of Ukrainian hostages published by People's Deputy Nadia Savchenko only complicated the process of exchanging hostages.