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Lugansk republic’s speaker says no captive Kiev troops in republic

Along with this, Karyakin noted that many prisoners were saying “it is better to be in captivity than in the Ukrainian army.”

© TASS/Sharifulin Valeriy

LUGANSK, January 15. /TASS/. No Kiev troops are being held captive in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), Chairman of the LPR People’s Council (the parliament) Alexey Karyakin told the Lugansk Information Centre news agency on Thursday.

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Pro-Kiev forces, East-Ukrainian militia exchange prisoners of war near Luhansk

“Today I have phoned to our servicemen and they say there are not any prisoners of war there,” the news agency quoted Karyakin as saying.

Along with this, Karyakin noted that many prisoners were saying “it is better to be in captivity than in the Ukrainian army.”

Earlier, Darya Morozova, the human rights ombudswoman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said that the militias and Kiev military have made nine prisoner swaps. The Ukrainian side received 404 people and in addition, another 25 Ukrainian servicemen were released as an act of goodwill. In turn, 500 people came back to the Donetsk republic.

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