Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have handed over parcels to Ukrainian military held hostage in prisons on the territory of Donbas beyond Ukrainian government control, according to First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group Iryna Gerashchenko.

"Today, the ICRC mission for the first time in all this time has been able to hand over parcels to our military who are held hostage in Makiyivka penal colony and the Donetsk detention center. It was agreed about the transfer of parcels on Easter at the latest meeting of the humanitarian group in Minsk," she wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

Gerashchenko said she was satisfied that the agreements of the meeting in Minsk were being gradually carried out.