Russia-led forces have eventually handed detainees lists over to the Ukrainian side as part of preparations for a swap.
Tetiana Ivanova, a member of the Ukrainian delegation in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), announced this on TV Channel Ukraina 24.
According to her, the Ukrainian side sent its lists to the terrorists in the winter, but they responded only in April 2021.
"All this time, Ukraine insisted that the lists from the ORDLO [Russia-occupied districts in Donbas] were transferred to us in retaliation. For a very long period, they did not share those lists, but in April this year, we finally got the lists. Now we are working with these lists, they are being finalized, work on them is under way. It eventually happened, and this is a very significant step, which gives hope that we will get to the point that the exchange will take place," she said.
She found it difficult to tell exactly how many Ukrainians could be released from the Russia-occupied territory.
On December 29, 2020, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova said that the Ukrainian side had put 251 names on the list for a swap of prisoners with the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR").
