Donetsk, Apr 19 – DAN. A new prisoner swap is frozen by Kiev's intransigence as it fails to commit to its obligations, said DPR Ombudswoman Daria Morozova.
Earlier in the day the press secretary of the Ukrainian president Yulia Mende called for activation of the POW exchange adding that the upcoming Easter is a good occasion to do so.
"Latest comments on POW exchange coming from Ukraine are, to put it mildly, contradictory. Delegates to the humanitarian group say that they are expecting amendments to Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code, alleging that the move will facilitate the legal clearance of previously liberated persons, and the transition to the discussion of new stages. They are de-facto admit their fault for the absence of progress and try to justify their intransigence," she said.
On the other hand, the press secretary of Kiev's delegation to the Contact Group Alexey Arestovich reports what he calls regular filing of exchange lists with the DPR and LPR, and blames the Republics for the stalemate.
"Mendel says the Easter is a good occasion to activate the exchange, though she realizes that the new stage is impossible until they fulfill their obligations on the previous exchanges, including dropping criminal charges against 50 persons handed over to the DPR in 2019 and 2020," Morozova said.
"This informational kerfuffle and the absence of a unified media position testifies to the fact that Kiev has no true reasons to preclude the legal clearance."
She emphasized that the Republics stand ready to go for another exchange any moment, as soon as Kiev carries out the legal clearance of detainees liberated in 2019 and 2020.
The previous prisoner exchange in Donbass took place in April 2020. Donetsk handed over nine people to Kiev and the latter passed ten people to Donetsk. Fifty detainees have been passed to the Republic over two years, but the DPR repeatedly stated that Kiev had not dropped charges or criminal prosecution against them.*ot