Separatist official says 144 prisoners swapped with Kyiv

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine said on Wednesday that it had carried out a prison exchange with Kyiv involving 144 fighters on each side.

"Today, we are returning home 144 fighters of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Russian Federation who were captured by the enemy," Denis Pushilin wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "We handed over to Kyiv the same number of prisoners from Ukrainian armed units, most of whom were wounded."