Several dozen people, whom the Ukrainian authorities are ready to hand over to representatives of the so-called "republics", asked to exclude them from the exchange lists. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to two sources in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Settlement of Situation in the East of Ukraine (TCG).
The unwillingness of the prisoners to return to CADLO became an additional problem in the negotiations on the upcoming "large exchange" of prisoners between Kyiv and the so-called "DNR" and "LNR".
It is reported that about 40 people from among those whom the Ukrainian party was preparing to transfer to Donetsk and Luhansk refused to participate in the exchange and return to the occupied territories of Donbass.
It is noted that among the refuseniks, there are those who do not want to return to areas of the Donbass that are not under the control of Kyiv, and those who wish to serve their sentences and thereby close the issue of criminal prosecution in Ukraine.
The second source of the media, close to one of the unrecognized "republics" of Donbass, confirmed the information about the refuseniks without mentioning their number.
According to him, during the negotiations on the exchange, it was a question of checking the voluntariness of the refusal, requested by the separatists, by representatives of the International Red Cross.
However, representatives of the "republics" opposed this and insisted that the check be carried out by coordinator of the TCG humanitarian subgroup Tony Frisch, since they have confidence in him. It is noted that Frisch would be able to begin the verification, which provides for meetings with the refuseniks, only after the western Christmas, which is celebrated on December 25.
Let us recall that according to the SBU, 250 Ukrainians are held captive in the occupied Donbass.
As previously reported, the "LNR" occupiers accused Ukraine of disrupting the prisoner exchange negotiations.