Donetsk, Dec 12 - DAN. Ukraine is insisting on new prisoner verification though it was carried through in the summer, DPR ombudswoman Darya Morovoza said on Tuesday following Contact Group humanitarian subgroup video conference.
“We are back to the verification which was completed back in the summer,” Mozorova told reporters. “We offered Kiev to verify prisoners on the contact line (during the exchange - eds Donetsk News Agency) but they refused. DPR is ready for the exchange, and again, we cannot begin it through Ukraine’s fault.”
As of now, Ukraine cut the number of people on the prisoner exchange list though the sides initially agreed to carry out a 306 for 74 swap. “DPR has not changed the number of people to be exchanged,” she said.
Ukraine and the Donbass republics last exchanged prisoners in autumn 2016. The parties have been unable to negotiate new POW exchanges in Minsk since as Ukraine delayed the process creating new obstacles and inventing pretexts.
Certain signs of headway appeared in mid-November 2017 as DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the prisoner exchange initiative put forward by Ukrainian Choice - People’s Right movement leader Viktor Medvedchuk. DPR authorities later said they were ready for POW exchange by the end of this year. *jk