The hostage exchange process in Donbas is over, and 74 Ukrainian captives who were earlier held in non-government controlled territories have been released, the Ukrainian president's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Lutsenko, has said.

"There's good news about which it is already possible to talk. The exchange process is over. The Ukrainian side has received 74 hostages who were held in captivity in the occupied part of Donbas. They are returning home!" Lutsenko wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in turn, thanked the Ukrainians freed as part of the swap for their endurance.

"I have just thanked our guys who are returning from captivity, among them cyborg Oleksandr Morozov and historian Ihor Kozlovsky. Thank you for your endurance, guys!" Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.

According to First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko, who represents Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, militants held 162 Ukrainians in occupied territories as of late November. According to her, agreements were reached to exchange 74 Ukrainians for 306 people detained by the Ukrainian side.

She noted that ten women were among 74 hostages. In total, she said, the Ukrainian side managed to find out the whereabouts of 96 Ukrainian citizens who are held hostage in non-government controlled areas.

The one-sided exchange was last held on December 29, 2016 when the Ukrainian side handed over 15 people to representatives of certain areas of Donetsk region. Kyiv made such a step, hoping to finally "unfreeze" the hostage exchange process blocked by militants.

The transfer took place in a neutral zone between Horlivka and Mayorsk.