Pro-Russian separatists have released 648 Ukrainian prisoners of war so far under the terms of a ceasefire struck with government forces that came into effect last Friday, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Tuesday.
Andriy Lysenko told a daily briefing the Ukrainian side was working to secure the release of about 500 more POWs. He did not comment immediately on how many rebel POWs the government side would hand over under the ceasefire deal.
President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday the rebels had handed over about 1,200 POWs. Lysenko said the president’s figure had referred to the total number of POWs and others believed to be held by the separatists.
Lysenko also said five Ukrainian servicemen had been killed and 33 had been wounded since the ceasefire began. Earlier, a defence ministry official had put the death toll among Ukrainian servicemen during the ceasefire at four.
www.belsat.eu/en, via Reuters
