国际英语新闻:Ukrainian troops, rebels exchange prisoners: media report

KIEV, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian troops and independence- seeking insurgents have swapped prisoners of war under the framework of Minsk ceasefire protocol, local media reported Friday.

According to Interfax news agency, Ukrainian government forces released 222 rebel fighters in exchange for 150 Ukrainian troops during the swap that took place on the neutral territory.

Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk observed the exchange as a representative from the Kiev side, while Vladimir Kononov, the self-styled defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People 's Republic, has been delegated to the event by the rebel forces, the agency said.

There was no immediate confirmation of the exchange from the Ukrainian authorities.

Earlier in the day, Vasily Budik, an aide to the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said a fresh round of war prisoner exchange with rebels will start Saturday.

Both sides have been holding hundreds of prisoners from months of fighting. However, the exact number of captives is unknown.

The prisoner swap is part of the Minsk ceasefire agreement signed between the two warring sides on Sept. 5 in an attempt to end the bloody conflict, but the agreement was never fully implemented.

Since then, more than 1,300 combatants and civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine, bringing the overall death toll in the eight-month-old conflict to more than 4,700.