The Lugansk People’s Republic has brought home 65 fighters in POW exchanges with Ukraine during the New Year holidays, said LPR Acting head Leonid Pasechnik.   “During the New Year holidays, 65 LPR servicemen were released from Ukrainian captivity in the prisoner swaps on December 31 and January 8,” Pasechnik wrote on Telegram.   “The atrocities committed by Nazis and permanent moral and psychological pressure took a heavy toll on the health of the Republic’s defenders. They were taken to Moscow where doctors and psychologies are providing necessary assistance to them,” he said.   “After long months of captivity, Lugansk region heroes are returning home to hug their relatives. They will continue treatment in the Republic; we’ll reissue their papers,” Pasechnik added.   Earlier, LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova said that 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 fighters including 37 LPR militiamen. The LPR ombudsperson said that more than 100 of them had been physically abused.   On February 24, 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 LPR militia and Russian armed forces fully liberated the LPR territory from Ukrainian armed formations on July 3.   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.   The Lugansk People’s Republic became a part of Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum.*i*ie