The prisoner exchange between the militants and Ukraine started at the Mayorsk checkpoint in Donbas, according to our reporter on site. 16 Ukrainians have been exchanged for 75 militants so far.
According to "Hromadske", Ukraine’s ombudswoman Valeriya Lutkovska said that 43 people who were handed over to the militants had already been released as they had served their sentence, so they didn’t come to the exchange. There’re also some people who came to the exchange but didn’t want to return to the occupied Donbas, there are around 10-15 of those. Lutkovska emphasized that they would be asked whether they want to return to the occupied territory in the presence of the Red Cross representatives.
President Petro Poroshenko has called the already released Ukrainians and was supervising the exchange, his press secretary says.
At the same time, around 3,000 people have gathered at the checkpoint where the exchange is happening, the separatist-controlled media reports. This is due to the fact that the militants have temporarily stopped letting people through from their side.
