Ukraine separatists say to swap prisoners with Kiev Sunday

MOSCOW: Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country have agreed to swap several dozen prisoners on Sunday, the self-declared rebel republic of Donetsk said.

"Kiev and the Donbass (a term used to refer to rebel-held eastern Ukraine) have reached an accord on an exchange of prisoners... this Sunday December 29," Donetsk government spokeswoman Daria Morozova said in a statement.

There was no immediate confirmation from Kiev, but both sides said earlier this month they would carry out a prisoner exchange by the end of the year, following high-profile peace talks in Paris.



The swap would come three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each.

More than 13,000 people have been killed and one million have fled their homes since pro-Russia militias in eastern Ukraine launched a bid for independence in 2014 -- kicking off a conflict that deepened Russia's estrangement from the West.

At the Paris summit on December 23, the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine agreed to implement a full ceasefire and proceed with a new withdrawal of forces from conflict zones by March 2020.