Six Donbass fighters return from Ukrainian captivity - ombudsperson

Six servicemen from the Lugansk People’s Republic have returned home as a result of the prisoner exchange negotiated by Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, LPR ombudsperson Viktoria Serdyukova told the Lugansk Media Center.

 

The prisoner swap took place in the area of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) on May 25.

 

“Ukraine released six LPR servicemen (from Task Force “South”) <...> as a result of the prisoner exchange carried out by Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Serdyukova said.

 

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One hundred Donbass defenders have returned from Kiev-held areas in five prisoner swaps with Ukraine since the beginning of this year. Three LPR servicemen were released in the April 26 POW exchange with Ukraine.

 

In 2022, more than 190 LPR servicemen returned from Ukrainian captivity. The LPR ombudsperson said that more than 100 of them had been physically abused.

 

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The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014.  The peace talks failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.

 

President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation on February 24, 2022 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