Markian Lubkivskyi, an advisor to the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on his official Facebook page, reports about 400 more Ukrainians prisoners of war are still being held captive by pro-Russian terrorists in the Russia-occupied territory of Ukraine:
“We hope that about 400 more of our fellow citizens will be returned to us,” added Markian Lubkivskyi.
On April 06, 2015, in the evening, 16 Ukrainian servicemen were released from militant captivity, and an advisor to the head of the SBU assured that the process of the exchanging would continue:
“The information saying that 16 military, given to the Ukrainian party today, were the last military prisoners in the so-called ‘DPR’ is not true. We look forward to the return of about four hundred of our fellow citizens,” Lubkivskyi wrote.
Ukrainian side adheres prisoner exchange principle in the “all for all” format:
“We are ready to act on this principle in the future. Despite the complexity of the prisoner exchange process, we will continue and will not stop until the last Ukrainian comes home,” Markian Lubkivskyi.
After the first meeting of the Constitutional Commission on Monday, April 6, 2015, Ukrainian negotiator and second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told that the Russian-backed terrorists wouldn’t continue the process of exchanging prisoners until Ukraine adopts an amnesty law:
“There is no desire from the other side. The militants continue to impose the same conditions at the meetings of the Tripartite Contact Group: they will not be engaged in the exchange of prisoners if the Ukrainian government doesn’t adopt an amnesty law,” said Leonid Kuchma and added: “Ukraine should have a single authority to deal with all the problems, and that would include a working group on the exchange of prisoners.”
