<p>The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists on December 27 carried out the largest exchange of prisoners since 2014 near the town of Horlivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as part of the Minsk agreement.</p><p>Videos shared to the Facebook page for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko showed him dressed in military fatigues as he greeted returning prisoners near Kramatorsk. The president tweeted</a> that 74 detainees had been returned to Kiev-controlled territory and praised</a> the roles of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in facilitating the swap.</p><p>The Russian Interfax news agency reported</a> that 233 captives were transferred by the Kiev government to separatist-controlled territory, though the Kiev Post</a> put that number at 237.</p><p>According to the Kiev Post, 29 prisoners refused to return to the separatist-controlled side, and another “40 who had already served their sentence and were released did not show up for the swap.” Credit: Petro Poroshenko via Storyful</p><br />
