Gerashchenko confirms exchange of hostages in Donbas will take place on Dec 27
Prisoners will be exchanged in Donbas on December 27, the Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Speaker and Ukrainian representative to the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, Iryna Gerashchenko, said on her Facebook page on Monday.
"Seventy-four Ukrainians will be released on December 27. We will exchange them for 306 persons who can be released consistent with the Ukrainian laws," she said.
Kyiv was ready to conduct the exchange several days ago, the expert said.
"The Ukrainian Security Service, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Minsk Group did their best. As I have said before, the Ukrainian parliament, all of us stood ready, were on the finish line. Importantly, all problems delaying the release were solved," she said.
"I have just spoken with President Petro Poroshenko. He said that Ukraine was ready to release [the prisoners] and had done everything to unblock this process. We wanted to do that even earlier. We were happy when the other side finally gave its consent. The president ordered further work in order to release everyone still being held in prisons in the occupied territories and in Russia," Gerashchenko said.
She said on December 8 that the number of persons held in Donbas territories uncontrolled by Kyiv had grown to 168 (compared to 162 detained Ukrainians mentioned by her earlier), and that Kyiv hoped to free 74 Ukrainians before the end of this year.