Ukraine has managed to secure the release of nearly 2,900 people who have been captured since the conflict began in Donbas, says Yuri Tandit, an advisor to the chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

"A total of 2,852 people have been released to date. This is big news and a big figure. One hundred and seventy-two people are still held hostage," he said on Channel 5 television on Thursday evening.

Currently, many bodies are undergoing identification, he said. "We must collect everyone, because we do not abandon our people," the SBU official said.