Exchange of captives may be postponed due to Kyiv - self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic
MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - The militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) blames Kyiv for dragging out the exchange of captives.
"The swapping of captives is being dragged out again and may be postponed. This is happening because of the Kyiv side. Preliminary information indicates that the captives whom they were supposed to swap sustained serious beatings and are in a critical condition. Kyiv is afraid to swap them in this condition," the DPR Defense Ministry told Interfax.
An Interfax correspondent had reported earlier that 20 captives freed in the course of negotiations on resolving the situation in south-eastern Ukraine had arrived in Dnipropetrovsk in the early hours of Thursday.
All these people were captured near Ilovaisk and were held for five days or longer. Those freed said they had not been abused physically but were subjected to psychological pressure.
Some of the freed captives were limping and were taken to the hospital.
Volodymyr Ruban, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Swapping Captives, said slightly more than 1,000 members of Ukrainian security forces remained in captivity, including about 660 held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the rest in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.