KIEV
Pro-Russian separatists released 36 Ukrainian soldiers as part of the cease-fire with Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian president announced Friday.
“As a result of negotiations yesterday 21 soldiers were released, and today 36 more,” Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter, adding that “the cease-fire allows us to ensure the freedom of our soldiers, to strengthen our army and strengthen the defense of our settlements.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, Deputy Governor of the southern city of Dnepropetrovsk, Boris Filatov, said that 21 soldiers, including five officers, had been released by pro-Russian separatists.
The Ukrainian President, speaking at a meeting of the cabinet of ministers on September 10, said that 700 hostages had so far been released, and that 500 other hostages were expected to be released by pro-Russian separatists, by the end of the weekend.
Kiev and pro-Russian rebels agreed to a cease-fire, in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, on September 5, ending, for now, a five-month conflict which has left over 2,500 people killed, according to United Nations estimates.
Unrest in eastern Ukraine has torn the region apart since April, when Kiev launched military operations in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk to restore government control, after pro-Russian separatists had declared independence in the region.
www.aa.com.tr/en
