The Lugansk People’s Republic has brought home 12 fighters in the latest prisoner exchange with Ukraine, LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova told the Lugansk Media Center.
Russia and Ukraine held a prisoner exchange on February 4. Sixty-three Russian servicemen returned from Kiev-controlled territory. “Twelver returnees are LPR residents,” Serdyukova wrote on Telegram.
She thanked everybody “involved in these difficult but very important negotiations which help the servicemen return home and reunite with their families.”
“After initial medical examination by medics and psychologists, we’ll take our defenders to the Republic,” the ombudsperson said.
LPR Acting Head Leonid Pasechnik that Republic had brought home 65 fighters in the prisoner swap with Ukraine during the New Year holidays.
As of December 12, 2022, 150 LPR militiamen had returned from Ukrainian captivity since the beginning of the special military operation. Just before the New Year, the Republic got back another 41 servicemen including 37 LPR militiamen. The LPR ombudsperson said that more than 100 POWs had been physically abused in captivity.
The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. The peace talks that began soon thereafter failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance.
The Lugansk People’s Republic acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum. *i*ie
