Over 110 hostages held in Donbas, Kyiv says
KYIV. April 23 (Interfax) - Over 110 hostages are being held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, said Yuri Tandit, an advisor to the chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
"There are over 110 people in this area who are officially classified as hostages, according to the SBU," Tandit said on the Hromadske TV channel.
"On January 6, when the figure hit 25 for the first time, we were considering the 25-for-36 formula with OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] representatives," Tandit said.
He recalled that another 12 are being held in Russia: "We also add 12 our heroes who are being held illegally in the neighboring state."
According to a resolution passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on April 21, which cited SBU figures, 123 people are still being held captive by militiamen and 693 are missing. These figures however do not include all people who were captured by separatists in the occupied territories, and their relatives often are afraid to report their capture to the Ukrainian authorities, according to the resolution.
On April 21 DPR negotiator Denis Pushilin said that the DPR was hoping to conduct a 25-for-50 exchange before the Easter holiday, the Contact Group discussed swap lists at its meeting in Minsk on Wednesday.