Russian President Vladimir Putin and his close friend Viktor Medvedchuk, who represents Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas, have discussed the second phase of the swap of detainees between Ukraine and Russian-controlled militants in Donbas.
Ukrainian Member of Parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction and the presidential envoy in parliament, Iryna Lutsenko, has announced that 74 Ukrainians held captive by militants in Russian-occupied Donbas have been freed.
Charge d' Affaires, a.i., to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Harry Kamian has announced that the United States calls on Russia to exchange prisoners of war (POW) and hostages in Donbas before Christmas.
Darka Olifer, the press secretary of Ukraine's second president and envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group Leonid Kuchma, has announced that the parties participating in Minsk talks on Donbas have agreed to appoint a date as soon as possible for a swap of prisoners of war (POW) between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics.
The adviser to the SBU Security Service's chief, Yuriy Tandit, has announced that the Ukrainian side is ready to exchange 306 militants imprisoned in Ukraine for 74 Ukrainian citizens, including prisoners of war (POW), captured in Donbas, while the whereabouts of 96 Ukrainians held captive in the occupied areas are known, according to TV Channel 112 Ukraine.
Leonid Pasechnik, who has recently been appointed by the so-called "People's Council" of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") as acting head from November 25, says his "republic" will abide by the Minsk agreements and will not block swaps of prisoners of war (POW) with Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with the leaders of Russian-backed so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") to discuss an exchange of prisoners of war (POW) with Ukraine, according to the Kremlin's press service.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to talk with leaders of Moscow-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk regarding a potential prisoner swap with Kyiv, according to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Member of the Minsk Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup and First Deputy Parliament Speaker Iryna Gerashchenko has called on foreign diplomats to use all advantages as intermediaries to facilitate the release of Ukrainian citizens who are held in captivity in Russian-occupied Donbas.
Ambassador Ihor Prokopchuk, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Organizations, has called on Russia to free Ukrainian prisoners of war and hostages by New Year and Christmas holidays, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says that a bill designed to end the Russian occupation of Donbas will strengthen Kyiv's position in talks on the release of prisoners of war and possible deployment of United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Ukraine hopes for greater support from the European Union in the release of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea, according to the presidential press service.
Representatives of the U.S. Joint Personnel Recovery Agency will help Ukraine create an integrated interdepartmental system of psychological support of servicemen, who were held hostage, captured or tortured.
Svetlana Ageyeva, the mother of a Russian military serviceman, Viktor Ageyev, who has been captured by Ukrainian troops in Donbas, has complained to the Russian ombudswoman about the inactivity of Russian consuls and the hired lawyer, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Ukraine's envoy in the Minsk Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup and First Deputy Chairperson of the Ukrainian parliament Iryna Gerashchenko advises Svetlana Ageyeva, the mother of recently captured Russian soldier Viktor Ageyev, to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Ukrainian hostages unlawfully held in Russia.