CHECKPOINT MAYORSKE (Ukraine): Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country’s war-torn east exchanged 200 prisoners on Sunday, swapping detained fighters for civilians and servicemen held captive in some cases for years in two breakaway regions.

Kiev handed over to separatists five riot policemen suspected of killing protesters during a pro-Western uprising in 2014 as part of the swap, sparking public outrage.

“The mutual release of the detainees has ended,” the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement on Facebook, specifying that Kiev received 76 captives.

Separatist officials said the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics took in a total of 124.

Later the Ukrainian presidency published the list of Ukrainians freed from captivity, which included 12 military personnel and 64 civilians.

Two journalists who contributed to the Ukrainian service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Stanyslav Aseyev and Oleg Galazyuk, were also freed by rebels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the swap as “positive”.

The exchange came after Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky held their first face-to-face talks in Paris on Dec 9 and agreed measures to de-escalate Europe’s only active war.

Prisoners filed off coaches at the Mayorske checkpoint in the eastern Donetsk region, many carrying plastic bags stuffed with their belongings, as gun-toting uniformed soldiers and ambulances were on standby.

Among the group of detainees handed over by the separatists were those who said they had been held for several years after getting caught up in the conflict while visiting relatives.

Volodymyr Danylchenko, who said he had spent three years in captivity, said he was at a loss for words.

“I myself don’t understand what’s happened,” said the 36-year-old, adding that he was leaving his mother behind in the separatist region of Lugansk.

Another detainee released by the separatists, who gave just her first name Victoria, said she had been held for three years.

“I am so happy,” the 24-year-old said, adding that she had been convicted of “state treason” and sentenced to 12 years in prison after arriving in the Lugansk region to see her parents.

Another woman being handed to Kiev sported a handwritten sign on her clothing: “My country is Ukraine!” The swap, which was overseen by monitors from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, came three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each.

The previous prisoner swap between Kiev and separatists took place in 2017.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after the bloody 2014 uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime.

Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine who launched a bid for independence in 2014. Since then more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The release of the riot police has raised concerns in Ukraine, with many fearing the country is being pushed to pay too high a price for the swap.

Ahead of the exchange three riot policemen were released from custody while another two were freed from house arrest.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2019