"Officers must be the last"

Details of the exchange of prisoners in the Donbass, which began after signing the ceasefire agreement

A truce in the Donbass, declared based on the results of signing Agreements in Minsk , implied not only the ceasefire, but also the exchange of prisoners, so this process began immediately After the entry into force of the agreements reached. Initially, it was supposed to change "all to all", regardless of what title this or that Ukrainian soldier has or what The situation is captured by a supporter of Donbass separatism. However, while the separatists agree to free mainly ordinary and junior command staff, so for several days the exchange of prisoners has stopped - to clarify the lists.

Over the past month, according to the Center for the Liberation of Prisoners , more than 300 Ukrainian troops returned home. Another 800 remain in captivity. About the same number of separatists are now in the Ukrainian military, although the media appear in the media that the self -proclaimed authorities have more prisoners, and Ukraine will be difficult to free all its citizens. President Petro Poroshenko recently stated that more than a thousand Ukrainian military and those who did not take up arms had already returned home. The discrepancy in numbers is due to the fact that the Unified Register has not yet been created in Ukraine, and several Ukrainian organizations are engaged in liberation. Vladimir Ruban , one of the most active intermediaries in negotiations on the exchange of prisoners between the Ukrainian army and separatists, is mainly engaged in those who are in captivity in the territory of the self -proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. According to the list of the Center for the Liberation of the prisoners, in captivity of the DPR - more than 400 citizens of Ukraine (not only military, but also civilians, among whom there are, for example, a deputy of one of the local councils). Representatives of the self -proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic say that they are captured by 200 Ukrainian citizens. There is another list, missing, in which - more than 500 surnames.

Those Ukrainian military who have returned home in recent weeks tell different stories about the conditions of captivity. The most difficult things are captured by soldiers of volunteer battalions, who are separatists, with the exception of those who received serious injuries, are in no hurry to change. The 19-year-old young man Vasily Pelish originally from the city of the Old Samboor in the Lviv region is one of the few fighters of the National Guard of Ukraine , who recently managed to exchange. The recent weeks of his captivity in the Aydar battalion was in the regional hospital of Lugansk, as the separatists amputated his hand - for the tattoo with the inscription "Glory to Ukraine". Unlike the fighters of the National Guard, ordinary Ukrainian army usually do not complain about the conditions of detention. They are fed and not even forced to work. Here are the evidence of several released prisoners recorded by the Ukrainian service Radio Liberty:

Colonel General Vladimir Ruban , who created the Center for the Liberation of the prisoners, confirms that in the Donbass, torture is applied to some prisoners of Ukrainian military. At the same time, the main task is now to agree with the separatists about the new exchange conditions. Due to misunderstanding on both sides, now the process of liberation has stopped:

- The main reason for the suspension of the process of exchange of prisoners is "incorrect compilation of lists." What is meant?

- In pursuit of quantity, quality errors were made. It happens that [separatists] ask for 10 specific persons, and we know that the legal procedure prevents their rapid release. For this reason, people do not fall on the list outlined on some day to exchange a list. They are trying to replace them with others. The same happens in the case of self -proclaimed authorities in the Donbass. It happens that fighting interferes with bringing people on the appointed day to the place of exchange. Then they are replaced by others. Both sides are jealous of the coordination of such substitutions.

- Is the victims of the dead on one and the other?

The parties managed to agree that we no longer change the dead to the living

- From this, large exchanges and agreements began. People declare a truce in order to take the body of the dead from the battlefield. Previously, in order to take the bodies of their comrades, the Ukrainian side had to free the captured separatists, but later the parties managed to agree that we no longer change the dead to the living. We have the last military honors to be dead on both sides. "Cargo 200" we take by calling with a request to cease fire. This can now be done without any conditions, and the agreement in most cases is respected.

- At this stage, mainly the lower composition of the armed forces, that is, ordinary officers, are exchangeed mainly. For what reasons this happens?

- Officers should be the last. The captain from the ship leaves the last when he makes sure that the entire crew had left the distressing ship. So are the officers. As a rule, these are commanders of units, these are not ordinary fighters. If they fell into a difficult situation, they understand that the latter will leave the drowning ship. Therefore, the situation with officers is normal. And for the situation with the exchange, it is purely about technical features: just as one side holds more valuable prisoners, the second side does it.

- In the lists for the exchange of prisoners are also citizens of Ukraine, director Oleg Sentsov and pilot Nadezhda Savchenko. Does Ukraine have any equivalent figures that were captured to exchange for these people?

- Now the conversation is not about this. The figures were equivalent, and there was a proposal from the Ukrainian side to make mutually beneficial liberation of people, their exchange, but the Russian side responded in silence.

- If you are talking about equivalent figures, could you say what kind of people we are talking about?

- No, I will not do this.

- How many of these people? And is it possible to exchange a significant number of Ukrainian officers for them, for example?

- You can agree only with a side that is fundamentally ready to solve this issue. If the party takes a certain position, enters the positional trading, then there will be no agreements. The President of Ukraine showed good intentions and freed Russian citizen Olga Kulygin, who was subsequently exchanged for 17 people. The President of Russia - and we understand that this is a political decision on the hope of Savchenko - did not answer, although he, too, to the Russian side, was offered the same amount for one Nadezhda Savchenko. The Russian side chose a political decision: not to give.

- When you change prisoners, you often visit the territory controlled by separatists. What is the situation there now after signing a truce?

- At this stage, I see that the presidents of the two countries, Peter Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin, made a political decision to promote the end of fire in the region. The boundary is determined in which the territory with special status will be located. Both presidents have levers of influence on the conflicting parties, on the military, and use them to cease to be in order to prepare for the winter, and this does not entail a huge number of victims.

"Dark Warriors" are on both sides: they shoot, make provocations - in order to disrupt a truce

Thus, the humanitarian catastrophe manages to avoid. But there are people who have not encouraged, do not see logic in the ceasefire, they are in any war, in any unit. They crave the continuation of the war. You can call them "warriors of darkness." They are on both sides: they shoot, make provocations - in order to disrupt the truce. Everyone understands that now the world is still more important than war, and I think that in a short period the foci of irritation and shooting will be detected on both sides, and indomitable will be put in place.

- Have you related to the exchange of prisoners of Russian troops? And can you confirm the reports that at the last stage before a truce in the Donbass were the Russian military personnel?

- Have you seen Russian prisoners who were exchanged?

- If you mean the video , then - yes.

“And I saw them too.” That's all I saw. I do not study at the advanced meeting of Russian troops or Yugoslav mercenaries. I am engaged in the exchange of prisoners. Among the prisoners, I saw Russian troops. The Russian side invited me to take 13 Russians, the military, who were captured, in exchange for 130 captured Ukrainians. This operation was carried out by another service: 9 Russians were changed to 63 Ukrainians.