"Now, on the eve of the formation of Trump’s new administration, we see exacerbation in Moscow... [Russia seeks to] discredit Ukraine and its leadership by all means possible," Gerashchenko said.
According to the Ukrainian official, the Kremlin and the militants, completely dependent on Moscow, are trying to impose "a cynical agenda of debate about the hostages," manipulating numbers, blocking the liberation process, and blackmailing Ukraine with its citizens. At the same, terrorists are not decision makers, said Gerashchenko, adding that it’s Moscow which determines all steps from the militant’s side in terms of hostage release.
Read alsoReleasing Ukrainian hostagesShe also said that the invaders also underreport the number of hostages held captive: "For example, now there are more than 100 people in the SBU list… and the militants have by autumn confirmed only 20 people from this list, and in September – it was already 48 people, although we know exactly the whereabouts of another 58! But the militants hide them [the hostages], lie that there are no such people, while refusing to search for the others," said Gerashchenko.
Militants demand that Ukraine turn over those who have committed grave crimes in the ATO zone; that is, they provide incorrect information and demand the impossible. Moreover, they demand amnesty, Gerashchenko said.
On the other hand, in order to artificially increase the number of hostages, the terrorists kidnap civilians who come to visit someone in the occupied territories, and then they blackmail the Ukrainian side, demanding instead to convey those who have committed serious crimes against the state.
Read alsoUkraine to release 15 Donbas convicts, expects "humanism" in responseAs UNIAN reported earlier, on Tuesday, December 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation announced that Russia was not a party to the Minsk agreements - despite the fact that the set of measures for their implementation was signed by the Russian Ambassador to Ukraine at that time, Mikhail Zurabov, while the declaration in support of the deal was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It should be recalled that, according to the content of the phone conversation, intercepted by Ukraine intelligence, between the " head of the information policy and public relations department of the DPR leader’s administration" Yelena Alekseeva and a correspondent of Russia’s LifeNews propaganda TV channel, the release of thetwo Ukrainian women from militant captivity was carried out on orders from Moscow, while "DPR" representatives were unaware of who they were “releasing”.
