Ukraine conducts largest prisoner exchange since Donbas war began

The Ukrainian government conducted on Dec. 28 its
largest prisoner exchange with the leaders of the self-declared Donetsk and
Luhansk People’s Republics since the war began in April 2014. The Ukrainian
side transferred to the breakaway leaders 233 war prisoners in exchange for 73
Ukrainians, confirmed Iryna Herashchenko, the president’s humanitarian envoy at
the Minsk peace talks. Another 40 separatist fighters were freed but didn’t
return to the self-declared republics, while 29 declined to return to the
republics, reported Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukraine’s
humanitarian representative in the contact group.

Another 103 Ukrainian fighters remain imprisoned in
the self-declared republics, some for more than three years, the Security
Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported. Several dozen Ukrainian fighters also remain
imprisoned in the Russian Federation, while the Ukrainian side didn’t release
its 15-plus war prisoners with Russian citizenship. Among those Ukrainians
freed were those who spent more than two years in prison and those having
reported inhumane torture.

Zenon Zawada: This
prisoner exchange is a much-needed political victory for Ukrainian President
Poroshenko, especially among the Ukrainian public. It sends the message that
the president is working to mitigate the war’s devastating effects and is
concerned about the fate of his soldiers. The prisoner exchange will help to soften
the public’s opinion of him at a time when his support is low.

It’s also a positive sign that close to a third of
the separatist prisoners had no desire to return to the self-declared
republics, indicating that quality of life there is far worse than in Ukraine.
Particularly revealing was the refusal of the imprisoned former mayor of a
Donetsk region town hiding in a bus of journalists to avoid returning during
the exchange. Such reports will dissuade other Ukrainians from joining Russian
forces if Putin decides to expand his military aggression in Ukraine.