Pro-Russian militants in Donbas have refused the hostage exchange offer proposed by the Ukrainian government, instead putting forward a ”phantasmagoric list” of 600 people to be swapped, according to Ukraine`s envoy to the humanitarian subgroup of the Tripartite Liaison Group Iryna Gerashchenko.
”This morning, I received a letter from the OSCE, which contained the response of [the militants] and their so-called `envoy` to all our proposals for the release of the hostages. The representatives of the [temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk] wrote that they rejected the Ukrainian side`s offer to release 25 hostages, even though Ukraine was ready to hand over the 50 people they had requested, in response to their proposal to give them eight `sappers` to release our hostages,” she said.
According to Gerashchenko, the Russian-backed militants demanded the all-for-all release, putting forward a ”phantasmagoric list of 600 people, half of whom simply do not exist.”
The country`s envoy to the humanitarian subgroup also stated that the Ukrainian side is witnessing a disregard of all appeals to logic, humanism, and realism.
”This is what is called terrorism. All those involved in this mistreatment of Ukrainian hostages are similar to the Somali pirates with St. George ribbons,” Gerashchenko added.
According to updated data from the SBU, 108 Ukrainian hostages remain in captivity in the occupied territories of Donbas, and another 10 Ukrainian hostages are being held behind bars in the Russian Federation, the official said.
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