Ukraine secures release of nine war prisoners, 10 more expected today

Ukraine secured the release of nine Ukrainian war
prisoners from the representatives of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s
Republics as of noon, Apr. 16 in the latest exchange, Human Rights Ombudsperson
Liudmyla Denisova confirmed on her Facebook page the same day. Another ten
Ukrainian prisoners are planned to be returned today, she said. “Undoubtedly,
the quarantine restrictions have significantly influenced the negotiating
process. It was difficult. But, as we see, the joint efforts of all those who
were included in this important work has produced results,” she wrote. The
process was monitored by the special monitoring mission of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe and the representatives of the Donetsk
People’s Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination.

The latest prisoner exchange is the third organized by
President Zelensky and his lead negotiator and presidential aide, Andriy
Yermak. The first exchange, in September, resulted in the release of 35
prisoners, while the second exchange, in December, secured the release of 76
prisoners. This exchange “is occurring in the format of ‘all for all’. We are
gathering all citizens of Ukraine, without exception. It’s this very way that
strong countries act, which appreciate their citizens. Negotiations are ongoing
for the release of Ukrainians that are detained on the territories of occupied
Crimea and in Russia,” wrote on Apr. 16 Andriy Yermak on his Facebook page.

Zenon Zawada: This
exchange is a valuable effort by the Zelensky administration and the best that
could be done in dealing with the warfare in Donbas, considering that the peace
talks have reached a dead end. At the same time, it’s not clear whether
Zelensky and Yermak reached any other political agreements, which we do not yet
know about, to secure this prisoner exchange. Reports don’t indicate if the
agreement was reached with the Kremlin, or its proxies in Donbas. That was not
a cause for doubt in the past but it is now considering Yermak was pursuing the
possibility of holding direct talks with the Russian proxies.

Moreover, Zelensky and Yermak drew harsh criticism
from pro-Western leaders for the previous exchange because they coincided with
other agreements reached with Russia that were likely to have been part of a
larger package. For instance, the December prisoner exchange coincided with
agreements reached on natural gas transit prices and compromises on gas-related
litigation, which drew criticism that the exchanges were achieved at the
expense of strategic geopolitical interests.