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theguardianuk--2019-03-21--Cyclone Idai shows the deadly reality of climate change in Africa Landry Nintereste
| 2019-03-21T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Cyclone Idai shows the deadly reality of climate change in Africa | Landry Nintereste
|
As [Africa climate week](https://www.connect4climate.org/event/africa-climate- week-2019-accra-ghana) unfurls in Ghana, the countries of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe count the costs of [Cyclone Idai](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/20/cyclone-idai-rising-flood- levels-threaten-mozambique-disaster-relief-effort), which ripped through villages and towns, taking hundreds of lives and leaving a trail of destruction. For a continent already racked by the effects of the climate crisis, Idai is another chilling reminder of the destructive power of the kind of storms that will become more common as the world warms up. The cyclone made landfall on 14 March, the same day that the [One Planet Summit](https://www.oneplanetsummit.fr/en/events-16/one-planet-summit-nairobi- africa-pledge-67) started in Nairobi, called by French president Emmanuel Macron. After picking up speed, with winds of 195km/h (120mph) accompanied by lashing rains, Idai caused flooding and landslides, ruining crops and roads, and has already affected millions of people. The city of [Beira](https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2019/mar/18/aerial-footage- shows-cyclone-idai-devastation-in-mozambique-video) in Mozambique was hit the hardest, with nearly 80% of homes and public infrastructure destroyed. While the most vulnerable communities are facing the real impact of climate change on the ground, national leaders at the One Planet Summit kept their talk inside comfortable and acclimatised rooms. During the summit, Macron encouraged global collaboration towards ensuring sustainable preservation of forests, and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya made a pledge to achieve at least 10% forest cover in the next three years. These commitments would be laughable if it were not so tragic. Africa needs to do a lot more than that to build climate resilience. [Cyclone Idai](https://www.theguardian.com/world/cyclone-idai) is another powerful demonstration of this. While many countries appear to be already reducing carbon emissions and moving towards an energy transition, Africa’s coalfields are open for business. Along with a few Asian countries (Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh in particular), our continent continues to be an El Dorado for the coal cheerleaders and big business determined to carry on its coal-onisation. New plants are being planned from South Africa to Senegal, from Kenya to [Mozambique](https://www.theguardian.com/world/mozambique), as well as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire. Most of them are co- financed by the African Development Bank, on whose board sit members of African, European, North and South American and Asian governments. This is the case for the coal-fired power plant projects [in Bargny](https://ejatlas.org/conflict/coal-power-factory-in-bargny-by-senelec- senegal) (in the suburbs of Dakar, Senegal), San-Pédro (Côte d’Ivoire), [Lamu](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001281514/kenya-targets- african-development-bank-to-back-coal-project) (Kenya), or the [Thabametsi](https://350africa.org/thumamina-dbsa/) power station in Limpopo province, South Africa, near the border with Botswana. The situation is pretty similar for the oil industry, a source of energy that continues to attract investors in [Africa](https://www.theguardian.com/world/africa), a continent that accounts for 8% of global production, with 7.5m barrels a day. Despite the drop in the price of oil over the last five years, new players are added yearly to the list of majors companies, such as Total, Shell, Exxon, BP and Eni. In Uganda, for example, a new field will be exploited, the fruit of the cooperation between [Total, the Chinese company CNOOC, and the British company Tullow Oil.](https://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/105617/tullow_sells_uganda_stake_to_total_cnooc_for_29b/) [Perenco](https://www.stopcorporateimpunity.org/perenco-in-the-drc-when-oil- makes-the-poor-poorer/), a French-British company, has just set up in Gabon and DRC and plans to produce half a million barrels a day. In February 2019, [Total announced](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-07/total- discovery-opens-new-petroleum-province-off-south-africa) the huge offshore discovery of gas-condensate and light oil in South Africa, which could contain 1bn barrels of total resources. Even though Africa is estimated to [produce just 4%](https://www.brookings.edu /wp-content/uploads/2016/08/global_20160818_cop21_africa.pdf) of global carbon emissions – compared to [80% by the most industrialised countries](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/14/europe/g20-climate-targets- fossil-fuel-report-intl/index.html) (G20), it is the continent that pays the highest price. For us, climate change is not a future risk, it’s already a reality evident in wrecked families, lands and livelihoods, and hopeless children and young people who have no choice but to seek a future by migrating. Everywhere on the continent, communities fear losing their land as each season hits one country after another with [exceptional floods](https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/08/deadly- flash-floods-east-africa-dire-need-kenya-rwanda-somalia), unexpected storms and increasingly [long droughts](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/20 /weve-never-seen-this-drought-this-disease-famine-looms-in-somalia). Fauna and flora reserves have been running out, access to water has become a privilege, and extreme weather events have become more numerous and left families without homes or livelihoods. Some assume that increasing forest cover or granting new billions in funding to governments plagued by bad governance and corruption will prevent such disasters from happening and solve the issue of global warming. This is an insult to people facing untold suffering in every corner of the continent, while new coal and mining infrastructure and carbon commodification continue to be allowed. The proliferation of fossil-fuel projects is happening at the expense of people’s health, the climate and ecosystems. Yet the solutions to this crisis are also well known. They include ending coal extraction and mining, stopping the funding of new coal infrastructure – mines or power plants – and accelerating the investment in renewables. International cooperation and funding from industrialised economies are necessary to combat climate change. And such efforts should start by not promoting or funding any fossil fuel projects anywhere in the world. But before money, energy transition is a matter of vision and leadership. African countries have to step up efforts against environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions, for instance, by decentralising energy supply systems, and by promoting tax policies that favour solar and wind energy investments. African governments must do a better job of protecting their people, but fossil fuel companies must also be held accountable for the impact that decades of unregulated exploitation of coal, oil and gas have had on the continent, including before courts. Tired of vain promises and empty slogans, [students and pupils around the world](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/08/global-school- strikes-over-climate-change-head-to-the-uk), including in South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, organised a series of rallies and events last week asking their governments to take, without delay, the decisions needed to contain climate destabilisation. This organic mobilisation is likely to continue and grow until real action is taken. While regional leaders and development partners are gathered in Accra for the 2019 Africa climate week, they should refrain from promoting more false solutions or making empty promises while thousands of innocent citizens are perishing. Ending the extraction and use of coal and other fossil fuels in Africa is a decision that cannot be delayed any longer. The brutality of Cyclone Idai is another stark reminder that millions of lives depend on it. • Landry Ninteretse is the Africa lead for 350.org, which campaigns on climate change
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Landry Ninteretse
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/21/cyclone-idai-climate-change-africa-fossil-fuels
|
2019-03-21 12:15:00+00:00
| 1,553,184,900 | 1,567,545,395 |
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698,775 |
theguardianuk--2019-04-29--Cyclone Kenneth death toll in Mozambique rises as rain continues
| 2019-04-29T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
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Cyclone Kenneth death toll in Mozambique rises as rain continues
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The death toll from Cyclone Kenneth, the second tropical storm to hit Mozambique within weeks, has jumped to 38 as flooding continued. Rains from the storm pounded the north-eastern city of Pemba and surrounding areas on Monday, and more torrential rain was forecast for the coming days. Cyclone Idai, which hit central Mozambique in mid-March, killed at least 600 people. The government said the flooding from the new cyclone was “critical” in parts of Cabo Delgado province such as the towns of Ibo, Macomia and Quissanga, where many buildings and homes had been destroyed. Most roads were impassable and the heavy rains made air contact difficult. Officials said aid distribution would begin via helicopter and boats in Ibo and Quissanga as soon as the rains lifted on Monday. Canoes may be used to deliver aid in Macomia. Provision of safe drinking water is becoming a challenge as wells have been contaminated, raising the threat of cholera. Malaria is another concern. The prolonged heavy rains in Pemba, the provincial capital, caused deadly mudslides. As the rains eased on Monday, residents of a poor neighbourhood were digging for bodies. Two houses were crushed by the collapse of a sprawling dumpsite just after midnight, said Manuel Joachim, a local resident. He said the body of a woman was discovered on Monday morning. Five people were missing. Using picks, shovels and their hands, workmen and locals dug through mud and garbage. In other parts of Pemba, some tried to return to a semblance of daily life amid the destruction. At a school in one suburb, schoolchildren in blue uniforms trooped into classes. In central Pemba, traders put their wares on street pavements and wooden tables while others were busy removing rubble from their homes and yards.
|
Associated Press in Pemba, Mozambique
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/29/cyclone-kenneth-death-toll-in-mozambique-rises-as-rain-continues
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2019-04-29 12:16:38+00:00
| 1,556,554,598 | 1,567,541,768 |
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699,563 |
theguardianuk--2019-05-04--Cyclone Fani hits Bangladesh after killing 12 in India
| 2019-05-04T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
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Cyclone Fani hits Bangladesh after killing 12 in India
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The strongest cyclone to hit India in five years killed at least 12 people in the eastern state of Odisha, before swinging north-eastwards into Bangladesh on Saturday, where more than a million people have been moved to safety. After hitting land, Cyclone Fani lost some of its power and was downgraded to a deep depression by the India Meteorological Department. A storm surge still breached embankments to submerge dozens of villages on Bangladesh’s low-lying coast, a disaster ministry official in Dhaka said. About 1.2 million people living in the most vulnerable districts in Bangladesh had been moved to 4,000 shelters. The storm destroyed several houses in the Noakhali district, where a two-year-old child was killed and about 30 people were injured, a local official told Reuters. In India, authorities were assessing the casualties and damage caused by Fani, which had spent days building power over the northern reaches of the Bay of Bengal before tearing into Odisha. Indian media reported that at least 12 people died across the state, most as a result of falling trees. A mass evacuation of more than a million people in the 24 hours before the tropical cyclone made landfall is likely to have averted a greater loss of life. The seaside temple town of Puri, which lay directly in the path of Fani, sustained extensive damage as winds gusting up to 124 mph (200 km/h) tore off tin roofs, snapped power lines and uprooted trees on Friday. “Destruction is unimaginable. Puri is devastated,” Odisha’s special relief commissioner, Bishnupada Sethi, told Reuters, adding that 116 people were reported injured across the state. Video footage taken from an Indian navy aircraft showed extensive inundation in areas around Puri, with wide swathes of land submerged. At least six people died in Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s state capital, where fallen trees blocked roads and the electricity supply is still to be fully restored. Ashok Pattnaik, the director of Capital hospital, one of the largest state-run hospitals in Bhubaneswar, said four people were pronounced dead on arrival on Friday and two on Saturday. “All are cyclone-related,” he said. Bhubaneswar airport sustained considerable damage, but India’s aviation ministry said it would reopen on Saturday afternoon. Shelters were set up in schools and other safe buildings to accommodate the evacuees, who included scores of tourists. The cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal can last from April to December. In 1999 a super-cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours, killing more than 10,000 people. But since then, technology advances have helped weather forecasters track the cyclones more accurately, giving authorities more time to prepare, and a mass evacuation of nearly a million people saved thousands of lives in 2013.
|
Reuters in Bhubaneswar
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/04/cyclone-fani-death-toll-bangladesh-and-india-assess-damage
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2019-05-04 10:21:17+00:00
| 1,556,979,677 | 1,567,541,209 |
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715,230 |
theguardianuk--2019-11-20--Weatherwatch: Cyclone Bulbul leaves millions displaced in Bangladesh
| 2019-11-20T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
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Weatherwatch: Cyclone Bulbul leaves millions displaced in Bangladesh
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Cyclone Bulbul brought strong winds and torrential rain to the low-lying coasts of Bangladesh and eastern India. The storm began its formation near Palau, to the east of the Philippines – 3,100 miles (5,000km) from Bangladesh. The system then crossed the Indochinese peninsula and intensified over the Bay of Bengal before making landfall on 9 November near Sagar Island in West Bengal, India. More than 200mm of rain fell in places, coupled with an extreme storm surge and winds reaching 75mph. Across Bangladesh, 2.1 million people were relocated to cyclone shelters, but 4,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. About 5,000 trees were brought down in the Sundarbans – the world’s largest mangrove forest. In Venice, Italy, 90% of the canal city has been flooded in the past week due to tides at their highest levels for more than 50 years. Water levels reached 187cm above normal on 12 November, forcing St Mark’s Square to close, while the vaporetti – the city’s famous waterbuses – were suspended. The flooding has been estimated to have caused more than €1bn-worth of damage. Meanwhile, much of Canada and the US experienced record-breaking cold weather last week. In Texas, temperatures dropped more than 30C in less than 24 hours.
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Rich Johnson
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https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/nov/20/weatherwatch-cyclone-bulbul-leaves-millions-displaced-in-bangladesh
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Wed, 20 Nov 2019 21:30:37 GMT
| 1,574,303,437 | 1,574,295,899 |
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751,804 |
theindependent--2019-03-19--Cyclone Idai destroys 90 of city in Mozambique in aposdisaster of great proportionsapos
| 2019-03-19T00:00:00 |
theindependent
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Cyclone Idai destroys 90% of city in Mozambique in 'disaster of great proportions'
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A deadly tropical cyclone has destroyed as much as 90 per cent of the Mozambique city of Beira, raising fears for more than 500,000 people. Cyclone Idai brought devastation to the major coastal city of half a million people on Thursday night with winds of up to 106 mph, before moving to Zimbabwe and Malawi, Red Cross said. The damage was “massive and horrifying”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) said after surveying the worst-hit areas via helicopter. Images on social media and local television showed billboards and rooftops blown off, trees snapped and electricity cables left fallen in the city’s streets. President Filipe Nyusi said he believed the storm could be the deadliest to hit the southeast African country, adding that it was “a real disaster of great proportions”. Appearing on state radio, he described seeing “bodies floating” in the water after two rivers broke their banks and “wiped out entire villages”. He said he expected the death toll, which currently stands at 84, to rise significantly to more than 1,000 deaths. The United Nations’ humanitarian office said on Friday that electricity and communications in the city had been cut off by the cyclone. It also warned of devastation outside Beira, in particular of livestock and crops, adding that the damage took place just before the main harvest season, which could exacerbate food insecurity in the region. In February 2000, Cyclone Eline also made landfall near Beira during a period of intense rain, killing hundreds and displacing 650,000 across the wider region. With the latest disaster also leaving thousands missing or displaced, Amnesty International is calling on foreign governments and regional leaders to ramp up rescue efforts. Muleya Mwananyanda, deputy regional director for southern Africa, said the international community must provide the necessary aid resources to save lives and provide relief to those affected. “As the effects of climate change intensify, these extreme weather conditions can be expected to revisit us more frequently,” she said. “The devastation wrought by Cyclone Idai is yet another wake-up call for the world to put in place ambitious climate change mitigation measures.” “Regional leaders and governments of wealthier countries must support effective early-warning systems, disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation strategies to save lives and protect human rights.” We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
|
Toyin Owoseje
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mozambique-cyclone-tropical-idai-beira-zimbabwe-malawi-a8829356.html
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2019-03-19 10:20:00+00:00
| 1,553,005,200 | 1,567,545,631 |
weather
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752,041 |
theindependent--2019-03-20--Cyclone Idai aposDeath all overapos as floods wipe out aposevidence houses were ever hereapo
| 2019-03-20T00:00:00 |
theindependent
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Cyclone Idai: 'Death all over' as floods wipe out 'evidence houses were ever here'
|
Cyclone Idai has spread “death all over” in Mozambique, survivors have said, with hundreds killed across southern Africa. In neighbouring Malawi, UN workers said that in some areas all evidence of human settlement had been washed away by the storm and subsequent floods. With the death toll reaching at least 360 – but expected to rise – world governments have said they will increase their efforts to help. In Mozambique, 202 deaths have been reported. Some 102 people have died in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi. It will be days before Mozambique’s flooded plains drain towards the Indian Ocean, and longer still before the full scale of the devastation is known. “There is death all over,” said Amos Makunduwa, carrying a few remaining possessions. “It is beginning to smell really bad,” he added. “The whole area is like one big body of water, huge rocks and mud. There are no houses, as if no one ever stayed here.” Rebecca Phwitiko, a Unicef communications officer in Malawi who has accompanied aid workers to the worst-hit areas, told The Independent that in some areas houses have been reduced to “a pile of bricks”. “There are places where you can’t even see the evidence of houses having been there,” she added, speaking about rural villages. Rain is still falling in some districts. In Malawi, about 76,000 people have been displaced, and Unicef said it believed more than a quarter of a million children were among those affected by the cyclone in Mozambique – the most damaged country. Ms Phwitiko said she visited a school where more than 3,000 people were sheltering, sharing only 10 cooking pots between them. “A lot of families in the affected areas are living in camps. They’re camping in schools, churches and any public buildings that they can find,” she said. But in some areas there is no nearby source of clean water, and in others no toilets. Lack of privacy in sleeping arrangements mean that girls are “at risk of sexual violence”. She added that the storm hit “just a few weeks away from when people were due to harvest the maize crop”, and that “this sets them back quite a bit. Most of the affected are among some of the poorest people in the rural areas”. International aid has started trickling in to ease the humanitarian crisis. “Everyone is doubling, tripling, quadrupling whatever they were planning,” said Caroline Haga, of the Red Cross in Beira, Mozambique, referring to supplies and aid workers. “[The fallout] is much larger than anyone could ever anticipate.” The UK announced on Wednesday it would increase its contribution from £6m to £18m. The worst hit areas were close to the Buzi river west of the destroyed city of Beira, said Ms Haga. Two rivers, including the Buzi, burst their banks after the storm dumped rain on Zimbabwe and Malawi at the weekend, sending torrents of water into Mozambique and creating a “second emergency”. Aid agencies changed tack from dealing with a situation mostly involving damage to property and infrastructure caused by the cyclone, to facing something much more serious. “The flooding is completely different in that this is now a matter of life or death,” Ms Haga said. The floods have also brought the threat of waterborne and respiratory diseases, including pneumonia. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads.
|
Jon Sharman
|
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/cyclone-idai-mozambique-malawi-death-toll-floods-a8832566.html
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2019-03-20 20:14:22+00:00
| 1,553,127,262 | 1,567,545,483 |
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759,125 |
theindependent--2019-05-04--Cyclone Fani leaves 17 dead in India and Bangladesh but mass evacuations hailed for saving thousands
| 2019-05-04T00:00:00 |
theindependent
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Cyclone Fani leaves 17 dead in India and Bangladesh but mass evacuations hailed for saving thousands of lives
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At least 17 people have died in the strongest cyclone to hit India and Bangladesh in five years, but officials have hailed a mammoth evacuation which moved more than 1.2 million citizens and tourists to safety as having saved thousands of lives. Cyclone Fani killed 12 people in the country’s eastern Odisha state on Friday and Saturday before swinging into Bangladesh where another five died. Winds of 124mph tore roofs from buildings, snapped power lines and ripped up trees across the two countries. More than 150 people were left injured. The storm has now been downgraded to a depression by the India Meteorological Department. “The fear of a major disaster is mostly over as [Fani] has weakened,” said Shamsuddin Ahmed, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Authorities in the two countries are now assessing the damage left by the cyclone, which had spent days building over the Bay of Bengal. The seaside temple town of Puri, which lay directly in Fani’s path, is reported to have been among the worst struck. “Destruction is unimaginable,” said Bishnupada Sethi, Odisha’s special relief commissioner. “Puri is devastated.” Video footage taken from an Indian navy aircraft showed extensive flooding in the area with both crops and electricity infrastructure completely destroyed. In Bangladesh, several villages have been submerged and homes wrecked in the country’s Noakhali district where a two-year-old child was confirmed among the dead. As the storm passed, people have now started returning to their home, before the huge task of restoring damaged buildings begins next week. The evacuation itself was called “one of the biggest human evacuations in history” by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. More than 100,000 government officials, 45,000 volunteers, and 2,000 civil society groups were mobilised, and 9,000 shelters and 7,000 kitchens pressed into service, Mr Patnaik said. Certainly, there seems little doubt the action saved lives: previous cyclones in the area have left thousands dead, most notably the super-cyclone which battered Odisha in 1999, killing some 10,000 residents and visitors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the middle of a general election campaign, said that he would visit Odisha on Monday.
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Colin Drury
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cyclone-fani-latest-india-bangladesh-odisha-evacuation-death-toll-a8899676.html
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2019-05-04 14:41:00+00:00
| 1,556,995,260 | 1,567,541,176 |
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140,716 |
disrn--2019-12-26--Philippines typhoon kills at least 16
| 2019-12-26T00:00:00 |
disrn
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Philippines typhoon kills at least 16
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A typhoon that ripped through central Philippines on Christmas Day has killed at least 16 people, according to Filipino authorities. Typhoon Phanfone had winds reaching 125 miles per hour and destroyed roofs and electric posts, cutting out communication and electricity services. At least 16 people were killed in the Visayas, the central third of the Philippines. The typhoon also hit Boracay, Coron, and other popular vacation destinations, stranding nearly 4,000 tourists. Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes.
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Disrn
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https://disrn.com/news/philippines-typhoon-kills-at-least-16/
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Thu, 26 Dec 2019 09:56:55 -0500
| 1,577,372,215 | 1,577,407,254 |
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152,373 |
drudgereport--2019-10-12--Japan hit by simultaneous typhoon and earthquake...
| 2019-10-12T00:00:00 |
drudgereport
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Japan hit by simultaneous typhoon and earthquake...
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Seven million people have been told to evacuate in Japan as a typhoon forecast to be the nation's most powerful in six decades made landfall on Honshu island. Around 7.3 million people were placed under non-compulsory evacuation orders and more than 30 were injured after Typhoon Hagibis hit the south coast on Saturday. Even before making landfall, Hagibis caused enormous disruption, forcing the cancellation of two Rugby World Cup matches, delaying the Japanese Grand Prix and grounding all flights in the Tokyo region. It crashed into Japan's main Honshu island at 7pm before barrelling into Izu, a peninsula southwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. 'Be ready for rainfall of the kind that you have never experienced,' said meteorological agency official Yasushi Kajihara, adding that areas usually safe from disasters may prove vulnerable. 'Take all measures necessary to save your life,' he said. The storm claimed the first of two victims hours before arriving on the coast, when strong winds from its outer bands flipped a car in Chiba east of Tokyo and killed the driver. But it was Hagibis' torrential rain that prompted the JMA to issue its highest-level emergency warning for parts of Tokyo and the surrounding areas, warning of disaster. 'Unprecedented heavy rain has been seen in cities, towns and villages for which the emergency warning was issued,' JMA forecaster Yasushi Kajiwara said. 'The possibility is extremely high that disasters such as landslides and floods have already occurred. It is important to take action that can help save your lives.' At least two landslides have already been confirmed across Japan, with a man in his sixties killed in Gunma north of Tokyo. By early evening, tens of thousands were in shelters and receiving emergency rations and blankets, though a 5.7-magnitude quake that rattled the Tokyo area did little to calm nerves. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centered in the ocean off the coast of Chiba, near Tokyo, and was fairly deep at 59.5 kilometers. Among the evacuees were people whose homes were damaged by a powerful typhoon that hit the region last month. 'I evacuated because my roof was ripped off by the other typhoon and rain came in. I'm so worried about my house,' a 93-year-old man said, as he sheltered at a centre in Tateyama in Chiba east of Tokyo. In Yokohama, outside of Tokyo, others hunkered down in their homes despite the storm. 'I'm 77 and I've never seen anything like this,' Hidetsugu Nishimura said. 'We can hear an infernal din from the rain and the wind, and a fragment of the roof has gone. For an hour, the house was shaking from wind and rain.' Before the heavy downpours and strong winds pounded Tokyo and the surrounding areas, residents captured pictures of the bright pink and purple sky. The eerie phenomenon, which often precedes or follows a major storm, is the result of 'scattering'. This happens when molecules and small particles in the atmosphere influence the direction of light, causing the light to scatter. Heavy storms wash away the larger particles which have absorbed more light and scattered wavelengths more evenly. This makes the colours of the sky appear more vivid. Even in the hours before the storm neared land, its outer bands brought tornado-like gusts of wind to Chiba, east of Tokyo, where one home was destroyed and several damaged. Five people including a three-year-old boy were sent to hospital, but none suffered serious injuries, the local fire department said. In Gotemba, west of Tokyo, emergency services said they had rescued one man who fell into a swollen canal but was still searching for a second man. The JMA has forecast 20 inches of rain for the Tokyo area in the 24 hours to midday on Sunday, with more for the central Tokai region, but many rivers were already close to breaching their banks by Saturday afternoon. In Kanagawa, authorities implemented an emergency discharge as the Shiroyama dam reached capacity, with warnings issued for people living downstream. Across the regions affected by the storm, more than 180,000 people lost power. Everything from auto plants to the country's convenience stores, usually open 24 hours a day, shut their doors. The storm has forced the delay of Japanese Grand Prix qualifiers scheduled for Saturday and the cancellation of two Rugby World Cup matches: England-France and New Zealand-Italy. It could also jeopardise a key match-up between Scotland and Japan on Sunday. Officials are not expected to make a final decision on that game until Sunday morning, after they have assessed any damage to the venue and transport links. Scotland face elimination if the match is axed and have warned they could take legal action if the game is cancelled. World Rugby called the threat 'disappointing'. Organisers also warned on Saturday that a Namibia-Canada fixture could be cancelled in Kamaishi, which was hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. Japan is hit by around 20 typhoons a year, though the capital is not usually badly affected. Hagibis is bearing down on the region just weeks after Typhoon Faxai hit the area with similar strength, killing two and causing major damage in Chiba. Authorities acted quickly, with warnings issued earlier in the week, including urging people to stay indoors. Some 17,000 police and military troops were called up, standing ready for rescue operations. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines grounded most domestic and international flights at the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya airports. Central Japan Railway Co. canceled bullet-train service between Tokyo and Osaka except for several early Saturday trains connecting Nagoya and Osaka. Tokyo Disneyland was closed, while Ginza department stores and smaller shops throughout Tokyo were shuttered. A typhoon that hit the Tokyo region in 1958 left more than 1,200 people dead and half a million houses flooded.
| null |
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/G6ypieMhszg/Japan-braced-Typhoon-Hagibis.html
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Sat, 12 Oct 2019 22:28:39 GMT
| 1,570,933,719 | 1,570,919,606 |
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france24--2019-10-12--Fierce typhoon paralyses Tokyo, causes floods, damage across Japan
| 2019-10-12T00:00:00 |
france24
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Fierce typhoon paralyses Tokyo, causes floods, damage across Japan
|
One of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit Tokyo paralysed the Japanese capital on Saturday, leaving millions confined indoors and streets deserted as fierce rain and wind killed two, flooded rivers and threatened widespread damage. A 50-year-old man was killed near Tokyo early on Saturday in a car overturned by punishing winds, while another person died after being washed away in a car, public broadcaster NHK said. Nine people remain missing in landslides and flooding, it said. Authorities issued evacuation advisories and orders for more than 6 million people across the country as the storm unleashed the heaviest rain and winds in years. Some 80 injuries have been reported so far, while more than 270,000 households lost power, NHK said. The storm, which the government said could be the strongest to hit Tokyo since 1958, brought record-breaking rainfall in many areas, including the popular resort town of Hakone, with a whopping 939.5 mm (37 inches) of rain over 24 hours. Typhoon Hagibis, which means "speed" in the Philippine language Tagalog, made landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu on Saturday evening. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake shook Tokyo shortly after. Even as the typhoon moved away from the capital late on Saturday, one expert warned of further flooding as several surrounding prefectures began releasing water from dams, letting it flow downstream. "The situation is now worse than this evening," Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, director of the Japan Riverfront Research Center, told Reuters. About 1.5 million people in Tokyo live below sea level. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued the highest alert level for 12 prefectures, warning of potential for once in decades rain totals. It later downgraded the alert level for several prefectures, including Tokyo. "Damage from floods and landslides is likely taking place already," an agency official told a news conference carried by NHK. "It is critical that people take action urgently to protect their lives and the lives of loved ones." Just last month, another strong storm, Typhoon Faxai, destroyed or damaged 30,000 houses in Chiba, east of Tokyo, and caused extensive power outages. Paralysed Tokyo's Haneda airport and Narita airport in Chiba both stopped flights from landing and connecting trains were suspended, forcing the cancellation of more than a thousand flights. Train operators suspended bullet train services extensively, while many train and subway lines in Tokyo were also down for most of Saturday. Usually bustling entertainment and shopping districts such as Shibuya and Ginza were deserted. Tokyo Disneyland was closed on Saturday, its first weather-related closure since 1984, and supermarkets ran out of bottled water, batteries and other disaster-related goods. Many people in and around Tokyo took shelter in temporary evacuation facilities early, before the worst of the storm arrived. Yuka Ikemura, a 24-year-old nursery school teacher, was in one such facility at a community centre in eastern Tokyo with her 3-year-old son, 8-month-old daughter and their pet rabbit. She said she decided to move before it was too late. "I've got small children to take care of and we live on the first floor of an old apartment," Ikemura told Reuters. "We brought with us the bare necessities. I'm scared to think about when we will have run out diapers and milk." Japanese Formula One Grand Prix organisers cancelled all practice and qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday. Two matches of the Rugby World Cup due to be played on Saturday were also cancelled. The Defence Ministry set up a new Twitter account to disseminate information on disaster relief efforts.
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NEWS WIRES
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https://www.france24.com/en/20191012-fierce-typhoon-paralyses-tokyo-causes-floods-damage-across-japan
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Sat, 12 Oct 2019 16:29:39 GMT
| 1,570,912,179 | 1,570,921,901 |
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218,098 |
france24--2019-12-25--Philippines typhoon leaves more than 25,000 stranded on Christmas Day
| 2019-12-25T00:00:00 |
france24
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Philippines typhoon leaves more than 25,000 stranded on Christmas Day
|
Fallen trees and buildings are seen after Typhoon Phanfone swept through Tanauan, Leyte, in the Philippines December 25, 2019. Typhoon Phanfone pummelled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet, miserable and terrifying holiday to millions in the mainly Catholic nation. Police said six people were missing as the typhoon leapt from one small island to another for the second day -- crumpling houses, toppling trees and blacking out cities and towns, including in popular resorts like Boracay. At the height of the festive season on Wednesday, tens of thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centres while the rest of the region's population cowered in rain-soaked homes. Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path to Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country's deadliest cyclone on record which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013. A father, his three children and two other relatives were missing after their hut was swept away early Wednesday when heavy rain caused a creek to overflow near the town of Balasan, provincial police told AFP. More than 16,000 people spent the night in improvised shelters in schools, gyms and government buildings as the typhoon first made landfall Tuesday, civil defence officials said. "It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs," Ailyn Metran told AFP after she and her four-year-old child took refuge at the state weather service office in Tacloban city, where her husband worked. The typhoon ripped a metal window frame off the building and dropped it onto a car parked outside, she said. With just two hours' sleep, the family were relieved to find their two dogs safe back home Wednesday, though the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house. Other survivors posted pictures and videos on social media of crushed homes, buses half-submerged by brown floodwater, roads strewn with tree trunks, and coconut and banana plants being shredded by ferocious winds. With sustained gusts of 195 kilometres (121 miles) an hour -- which can knock down small trees and destroy flimsy houses -- the typhoon was on track to hit the island resort of Coron overnight, the weather service said. Coron's beaches emptied and boat tours were suspended on Christmas Day as Western tourists stayed indoors ahead of the onslaught. "Many of the tourist establishments here are closed, and some of our guests failed to arrive because their flights were cancelled," hotel receptionist Nina Edano told AFP by phone. "We're not scared, but the ambience here is generally gloomy," she added. The typhoon hit land as millions of Filipinos trooped to once-yearly clan reunions centered on the "noche buena", a sumptuous midnight meal that is the highlight of the Catholic nation's holidays. More than 25,000 people remained stranded at ports on Christmas Day with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said. Scores of flights to the region also remained cancelled, though the populous capital Manila has so far been spared. "Obviously, (local residents) were unable to celebrate Christmas properly because some spent the night at evacuation centres," rescue official Cecille Bedonia told AFP by phone from Iloilo city. On the north of the island of Cebu, residents decamping from evacuation centres were greeted by the sorry sight of their damaged homes on Christmas Day, civil defence official Allen Froilan Cabaron told AFP. "They were safer at the evacuation centres. At least they were able to eat the Christmas Eve meal there, even if only tinned fish and instant noodles were available," Cabaron said. "But... the atmosphere would have been different because they were not at home," Cabaron added. The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt. It is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons each year that kill scores of people and wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure, keeping millions perennially poor. A recent study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop one percent off the Philippines' economic output, with the stronger ones cutting GDP by nearly three percent.
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NEWS WIRES
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https://www.france24.com/en/20191225-philippines-typhoon-strands-over-25-000-people-on-christmas-day
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Wed, 25 Dec 2019 07:18:28 GMT
| 1,577,276,308 | 1,577,320,317 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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218,099 |
france24--2019-12-25--Philippines typhoon ruins Christmas festivities, leaving over 25,000 people stranded
| 2019-12-25T00:00:00 |
france24
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Philippines typhoon ruins Christmas festivities, leaving over 25,000 people stranded
|
Fallen trees and buildings are seen after Typhoon Phanfone swept through Tanauan, Leyte, in the Philippines December 25, 2019. Typhoon Phanfone pummelled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet and miserable holiday season to millions in the mainly Catholic nation. Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centres at the height of the festive season on Wednesday, and residents cowered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone leapt from one small island to another for the second day. The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines' most storm-prone region, but no deaths were reported. Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan - the country's deadliest cyclone on record which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013. More than 10,000 people spent the night in schools, gyms and government buildings hastily converted into evacuation centres as the typhoon made landfall Tuesday, civil defence officials said. "It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs," Ailyn Metran told AFP after she and her four-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband worked. A metal window frame flew off and fell onto a car parked outside the building, she said. With just two hours' sleep, the family returned to their home in the central city of Tacloban early Wednesday to find their two dogs safe, but the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house. The weather office said the typhoon strengthened slightly overnight Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometres (121 miles) an hour, velocities that can knock down small trees and destroy houses made of light materials. More islands are along its projected path are expected to be hit with destructive winds and intense rainfall before blowing out into the South China Sea early Thursday, it added. More than 25,000 people trying to get home for the traditional Christmas Eve midnight dinner with their families remained stranded at ports on Christmas Day with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said. Scores of flights to the region also remained cancelled, though the populous capital Manila, on the northern edge has so far been spared. The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt. As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing scores of people and wiping out harvests, homes and other infrastructure and keeping millions perennially poor. A July 2019 study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop one percent off the Philippine economic output, with the stronger ones cutting output by nearly three percent.
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NEWS WIRES
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https://www.france24.com/en/20191225-philippines-typhoon-strands-over-25-000-people-on-christmas-day
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Wed, 25 Dec 2019 07:18:28 GMT
| 1,577,276,308 | 1,577,277,658 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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386,955 |
npr--2019-09-09--Typhoon Faxai Rips Through Tokyo Area At Least 2 Dead And 700000 Without Power
| 2019-09-09T00:00:00 |
npr
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Typhoon Faxai Rips Through Tokyo Area: At Least 2 Dead And 700,000 Without Power
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Typhoon Faxai Rips Through Tokyo Area: At Least 2 Dead And 700,000 Without Power Typhoon Faxai tore through an area just east of Tokyo on Sunday night and Monday morning, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more. The area's electrical infrastructure was hit hard, as strong wind gusts toppled two large steel electrical towers. The death toll could rise as officials survey the damage. The Kyodo News Agency is reporting a third storm-related death, but it adds that the circumstances are still being investigated. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. says more than 850,000 customers were initially left without power by the storm. By Monday night local time, that number had dropped to about 700,000. More than 100,000 people had been urged to evacuate from low-lying and other vulnerable areas, as the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of a possible record storm. Faxai forced the East Japan Railway Co. to suspend train service around Tokyo early Monday. It also forced more than 160 flights to be canceled. Commuters who got up Monday morning hoping to make their way to work were faced with flooded streets and rows of utility poles that had been thrown down. Those who made it to train stations faced cancellations or long delays, as crews worked to restore service. One station's roof was blown onto its tracks. Some of the worst damage came in the coastal Chiba prefecture, east of the capital across Tokyo Bay. On Sunday night, Faxai began plowing its way up the bay, bringing dangerous winds inland as it passed just west of Chiba City and making landfall early Monday. It then turned to the northeast and made its way back over the Pacific Ocean. "The typhoon brought record-breaking winds to Chiba City, where winds gusted to over 200 kilometers per hour [124 mph]," Japan's NHK News reports. "Two people died in accidents apparently caused by the strong gusts — one in Tokyo and one in Kanagawa." Faxai is also being linked to a fire at Japan's largest floating solar power plant, which sits on the waters of the Yamakura Dam in Chiba prefecture. The 13.7-megawatt plant covers 44 acres, but dozens of its panels erupted in flames on Monday. According to NHK, fire officials say the typhoon's intense winds might have pushed the panels on top of one another, causing them to overheat when the sun hit the solar plant. As images from the city of Ichihara in Chiba prefecture show, the typhoon also knocked down green safety netting at a golf driving range, sending an entire side of the assembly — support poles and all — crashing onto neighboring homes. The posts crushed the rooftops of houses as the large structure fell; in one case, a single pole was left sticking out of a roof. Faxai struck just days after a separate typhoon struck the Korean Peninsula. Typhoon Lingling caused at least five deaths in North Korea, according to the country's state news agency. At least three people in South Korea died as a result of the storm, according to The Korea Herald. Lingling damaged more than 9,400 buildings, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency says, noting that the storm brought the fifth-strongest winds of any typhoon that has ever been recorded hitting the peninsula. "The Korea Central News Agency reports widespread damage" in North Korea, reporter Jason Strother tells NPR from Seoul. "It says Typhoon Lingling destroyed hundreds of homes, bridges, roadways and thousands of acres of farmland and now recovery work is underway." Emergency crews working to restore power and help those whose homes were damaged in southern South Korea are still facing difficult conditions, as heavy rains were forecast for both Monday and Tuesday.
|
Bill Chappell
|
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758978962/typhoon-faxai-rips-through-tokyo-area-2-dead-and-700-000-without-electricity?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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2019-09-09 14:02:10+00:00
| 1,568,052,130 | 1,569,330,709 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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387,359 |
npr--2019-10-12--Typhoon Hagibis Leaves 2 Dead As Flooding And Landslides Threaten More Lives
| 2019-10-12T00:00:00 |
npr
|
Typhoon Hagibis Leaves 2 Dead As Flooding And Landslides Threaten More Lives
|
Typhoon Hagibis Leaves 2 Dead As Flooding And Landslides Threaten More Lives Typhoon Hagibis, the largest to hit Japan in 61 years, made landfall Saturday evening, sweeping northeast through the Tokyo region as a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck an area in the storm's path earlier that day. According to NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, the storm's path has left two dead, 10 missing and 90 injured so far, the 19th named storm this year. At least eight rivers have flooded their banks, several dams have begun discharging water and landslides threaten those sheltering in their homes as Hagibis continues to pour down a record amount of rain and whip the land with strong winds. If the dams do release their water in an emergency measure, they risk flooding downstream areas that already face storm surges, where civilians may not have evacuated. As NPR reported on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency forecast chief Yasushi Kajihara said that Hagibis resembled the 1958 Kanogawa Typhoon that killed more than 1,200. Although the typhoon abated after landfall and has made its way back to the Pacific Ocean without numbers approaching those of the Kanogawa Typhoon, the death toll may rise as recovery and rescues continue for those threatened by continued flooding and landslides. Officials in Gunma Prefecture said a landslide destroyed houses in Tomioka Saturday evening. Two persons were rescued from the wreckage, but one died afterward. Another two are missing in a Fukushima landslide, according to the Japan Times. Evacuation orders are still in place for more than 4 million people, although the JMA has lifted emergency warnings on Nagano, Niigata and Fukushima prefectures. Miyagi and Iwate prefectures are still under emergency warnings and are at extreme risk of landslides, and most of central and eastern Japan are under general warnings. The typhoon made landfall in Shizuoka prefecture Saturday evening local time as the 5.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast of neighboring Chiba province sent tremors ahead of the storm's fury. No tsunami warning was issued after the earthquake. Just north of Shizuoka is Tokyo prefecture, where NHK reports that the Tokyo and Nagano governments have asked Japan's military to assist in the region. The storm, as of midnight local time, had passed through the Tokai, Tokyo and Kanto regions and is projected to move along the northeastern coast past Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands, according to the JMA. The storm has also left more than 430,000 homes in the Tokyo metropolitan region without power, according to NHK. Transportation has been disrupted over the weekend, with the Japan Times reporting that rail and airport service has been cancelled in the affected areas until deemed safe. NPR reported that All Nippon Airways grounded all domestic flights coming out of the Tokyo region on Saturday, and the Japan Times reported that Central Japan Railway Co. canceled all shinkansen, or bullet train, service on Saturday. The storm has also forced the cancellation of Rugby World Cup games as the event approaches the quarterfinals. Two games have already been cancelled, and the Scottish Rugby Union has threatened legal action if its game with Japan is cancelled, not rescheduled, which would advance the Japanese team and send the Scots home. Typhoon Faxai ripped through Tokyo about a month ago, killing three and injuring 147 after it made landfall in Chiba prefecture. The Japan Times reported that the Abe administration was heavily criticized in the aftermath of that storm for not holding a meeting of ministers before or after landfall as power outages continued in Chiba prefecture well after the storm had passed. As Hagibis approached the Japanese mainland, Abe's cabinet held a disaster management meeting Friday in order to act more "proactively" than with Faxai.
|
Alexander Tuerk
|
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/12/769766429/typhoon-hagibis-leaves-2-dead-as-flooding-and-landslides-threaten-more-lives?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
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Sat, 12 Oct 2019 16:46:05 -0400
| 1,570,913,165 | 1,570,919,230 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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545,732 |
sputnik--2019-10-03--Six People Killed 6 Others Missing Over Typhoon Mitag in South Korea - Reports
| 2019-10-03T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Six People Killed, 6 Others Missing Over Typhoon Mitag in South Korea - Reports
|
The Yonhap news agency reported, citing the National Emergency Management Agency, that the majority of those who died due to the rainfall were seniors buried under buildings destroyed by landslides and those who were swept by torrential flooding. In the city of Pusan, located in the south of the country, the authorities are carrying out a search and rescue operation clearing the debris of a building swept by the flooding. The authorities believe that four people had been buried under it. Up to 500 millimeters of rain has fallen in South Korea’s eastern regions where multiple buildings have been flooded. Bus traffic has been stopped in the city of Gangneung, which hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics. Electricity supply has been disrupted across several areas. Rescue workers had to evacuate over 50 people who were locked in their houses and vehicles, while about 1,500 have left their houses for temporary evacuation facilities earlier. A tourist train derailed in the east of the country due to the landslides. The rains destroyed roads in the area. In the south of the country, over 100 houses were flooded and five houses were destroyed. Moreover, over 1,000 hectares of South Korea’s agricultural lands have been flooded. Typhoon Mitag left the Korean Peninsula early on Thursday, however, the rains are continuing throughout the day. Air traffic in the area has been resumed, while vessels are still prohibited from going to the sea.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201910031076949486-six-people-killed-6-others-missing-over-typhoon-mitag-in-south-korea---reports/
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2019-10-03 05:26:25+00:00
| 1,570,094,785 | 1,570,221,732 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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546,974 |
sputnik--2019-10-15--Death Toll From Typhoon Hagibis in Japan Reaches 61, 13 People Still Missing - Reports
| 2019-10-15T00:00:00 |
sputnik
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Death Toll From Typhoon Hagibis in Japan Reaches 61, 13 People Still Missing - Reports
|
Over 200 people have been injured, the Fuji Television Network specified. The death toll from Hagibis, considered to be one of the most destructive typhoons in the country's recent history, previously stood at 58. Hagibis struck Japan on Saturday, bringing with itself torrential rains and heavy winds, with rivers going out of banks, causing massive floods across the country. Chiba prefecture was even hit by a tornado. According to NHK broadcaster, protective dams on 37 rivers were destroyed, while 161 rivers in 16 Japanese prefectures suffered floods. Fukushima, Miyagi, Kanagawa, Tochigi, Saitama, Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures are among those most affected by the deadly typhoon. As many as 138,000 houses in 13 prefectures remain without water, while 34,000 houses remain without electricity, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201910151077050612-death-toll-from-typhoon-hagibis-in-japan-reaches-61-13-people-still-missing---reports/
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 06:48:10 +0300
| 1,571,136,490 | 1,571,147,052 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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554,463 |
sputnik--2019-12-26--16 Killed by Typhoon Phanfone in Philippines - Reports
| 2019-12-26T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
16 Killed by Typhoon Phanfone in Philippines - Reports
|
16 people were found dead on Thursday after the powerful typhoon Phanfone swept across the central part of the country, the AFP news agency reported, citing local disaster agency officials. The calamity has brought strong winds and heavy rainfalls that have destroyed over 100 buildings and disrupted numerous power lines. According to disaster officials, Phanfone's winds were blowing at a speed of 120 km per hour (75 miles per hour) when it hit the eastern Samar province. On 3 December, more than 225,000 locals were evacuated as another powerful typhoon, Kammuri, ravaged Luzon and Mindoro islands.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201912261077863330-16-killed-by-typhoon-phanfone-in-philippines---reports/
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Thu, 26 Dec 2019 07:02:43 +0300
| 1,577,361,763 | 1,577,363,607 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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707,769 |
theguardianuk--2019-08-12--Typhoon Lekima 44 killed in eastern China after landslide and floods
| 2019-08-12T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Typhoon Lekima: 44 killed in eastern China after landslide and floods
|
A powerful typhoon has left at least 44 people dead in China, after a landslide backed up a river that broke through debris and inundated homes, state media reported. More than a million people were evacuated from their homes after Typhoon Lekima hit the eastern province of Zhejiang on Saturday with maximum winds of 116mph (187km/h), the official Xinhua news agency reported. The landslide occurred in Yongjia county on the outskirts of Wenzhou, a major port city. Heavy rain caused a natural dam to collapse and the resulting landslide blocked a river which rose to a level of 10m (30ft) within 10 minutes, trapping 120 villagers, Xinhua said. State media said on Monday that the death toll had risen by 12 to 44. The additional victims included seven from Zhejiang province and five from Shandong. Sixteen people were still missing, according to data from provincial emergency bureaus and state media. Thousands of flights were cancelled in eastern China, according to the country’s aviation regulator, with most flights into and out of Shanghai’s two main airports called off on Saturday afternoon, their websites showed. China’s weather bureau on Saturday issued an orange alert – its second highest – after posting a red alert on Friday, when the storm forced flight cancellations in Taiwan and shut markets and businesses on the island. The storm was moving northward at 9mph (15km/h) and was gradually weakening, Xinhua reported, citing the weather bureau. High winds and heavy rains battered the financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, and Shanghai Disneyland was shut for the day. Nearly 200 hundred trains through the city of Jinan in Shandong province had been suspended until Monday, Xinhua reported. More than 250,000 residents in Shanghai and 800,000 in Zhejiang province had been evacuated due to the typhoon, and 2.72m households in Zhejiang had power blackouts as strong wind and rain downed electricity transmission lines, state media reported. About 200 houses in six cities in Zhejiang had collapsed, and 66,300ha (163,830 acres) of farmland had been destroyed, CCTV said. The storm reached Jiangsu and veered over the Yellow Sea before continuing north and making landfall again in Shandong province. Coastal businesses in Zhejiang were shut and the emergency management ministy warned of potential risk of fire, explosions and toxic gas leaks at chemical parks and oil refineries.
|
Reuters
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/10/typhoon-lekima-landslide-wenzhou-eastern-china
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2019-08-12 04:41:32+00:00
| 1,565,599,292 | 1,567,534,366 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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709,939 |
theguardianuk--2019-09-09--Typhoon Faxai batters Tokyo causing evacuations blackouts and transport chaos
| 2019-09-09T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Typhoon Faxai batters Tokyo, causing evacuations, blackouts and transport chaos
|
A powerful typhoon with record-breaking winds and heavy rain has battered the Tokyo region, sparking evacuation warnings for tens of thousands and causing widespread blackouts and transport disruption. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that he had received a report of one death and damage caused by toppling trees and flying objects. He said some 900,000 power failures were also reported. Typhoon Faxai was one of the most powerful typhoons to hit the Japanese capital for years, packing winds of up to 216km/h (134mph). Faxai made landfall in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo, before dawn on Monday, after barrelling through Tokyo Bay. About 5,000 people in Chiba and nearby Kanagawa prefecture were ordered to evacuate, public broadcaster NHK said on its Twitter feed. Authorities issued non-compulsory evacuation warnings to more than 390,000 people, as forecasters cautioned the rain and wind could reach “record” proportions. There were no immediate reports of deaths and only several minor injuries by early Monday, but some 864,000 houses lost power, NHK said, including the entire city of Kamogawa, east of Tokyo. “I’ve never seen a situation like this, where the entire city lost power,” a city official told NHK. At least 10 houses were damaged in Shizuoka with windows shattered and cars flipped onto their sides, according to local media. Winds were occasionally strong enough to shake buildings in the city of Ichikawa. Streets normally busy with commuters walking or cycling to the train station were deserted. Metal signs were torn from the sides of buildings, trucks overturned, the roof of a gas station torn off and glass display cases destroyed, scattering sidewalks with broken glass. Twenty-four-hour fast-food restaurants in central Tokyo closed, protecting their windows with plywood. “Please be on full alert against gusts and high waves and be vigilant about landslides, floods and swollen rivers,” the Japan meteorological agency said in a statement. Television footage showed a huge roof collapsing at a petrol station in Tateyama, south of Tokyo, with pumps crushed underneath. Faxai was expected to cause havoc with the Monday morning commute in Tokyo, as train operators were forced to suspend major lines until at least 8 am. “We need to inspect tracks and check if there is any damage as the typhoon is expected to pass through the region overnight,” a train company spokesman told AFP. East Japan Railway (JR East) said its bullet trains on five lines were running, but at reduced speed, while Central Japan railway suspended the Tokaido bullet train linking Tokyo and Odawara city because of strong winds, NHK reported. The typhoon already caused some travel disruption on its approach. About 100 bullet trains connecting Tokyo with central and western Japanese cities were scrapped on Sunday, along with ferry services in Tokyo bay. JR East was expected to resume most services on lines in Tokyo by mid-morning after completing track inspections. Airlines cancelled more than 100 flights scheduled on Monday while some coastal highways were closed west of the capital in Kanagawa due to the storm, according to local media. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or significant damage but eight surfers were rescued amid high waves off Shizuoka in central Japan after they were swept out to sea, local officials said. “Two helicopters were dispatched while special rescuers rushed out to sea,” a fire department spokesman told AFP. “We sent two of them to hospital but no one was in danger of dying.” Some department stores and amusement parks, including Tokyo Disneyland, closed earlier than scheduled due to the approaching storm. Faxai, travelling north at a speed of 25kph, was expected to hit northeastern Japan before fizzling out over the Pacific by around noon on Monday. The typhoon made landfall just as teams were due to arrive in Tokyo for the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on 20 September. The French team managed to sneak in just ahead of the typhoon and reach their training camp near Mount Fuji. However, the Australian squad found their preparations disrupted as the typhoon delayed their scheduled arrival. The England squad were expected to arrive in Tokyo on Monday morning before heading to the south-western island of Kyushu on Tuesday for a week-long training camp ahead of their opening match against Tonga on 22 September. Japan is accustomed to severe tropical storms and typhoons during late summer and autumn. Typhoon Krosa lashed western Japan in mid-August, bringing strong winds and torrential rain that claimed one life. North Korea was also surveying the damage from a powerful typhoon, with state media saying five people had been killed and three injured after Typhoon Lingling battered the Korean peninsula from Saturday afternoon through to late Sunday. Lingling also damaged crops, raising concerns about food shortages in the impoverished country. “Crops fell down, (were) inundated or buried in 46,200 hectares of farmland,” the KCNA news agency said. “Active work to eradicate the aftermath is now under way in the afflicted areas.” KCNA said the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, convened an emergency meeting at which he “berated senior officials for being “helpless against the typhoon, unaware of its seriousness and seized with easygoing sentiment”. Lingling killed three people in South Korea and injured 27, the government said. Around 160,000 households suffered power cuts and hundreds of flights were grounded.
|
Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/09/typhoon-faxai-batters-tokyo-causing-evacuations-blackouts-and-transport-chaos
|
2019-09-09 03:32:55+00:00
| 1,568,014,375 | 1,569,330,703 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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712,246 |
theguardianuk--2019-10-13--Typhoon Hagibis: recovery and rescue efforts in full swing
| 2019-10-13T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Typhoon Hagibis: recovery and rescue efforts in full swing
|
At least 25 people have died and 15 others are missing after one of the most powerful typhoons in decades struck wide areas of Japan’s main island on Saturday night. Media reports said thousands of troops, firefighters and other emergency workers had been dispatched to rescue people trapped by floodwater in the worst-hit areas, as utilities raced to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes. Typhoon Hagibis, which has been described by meteorologists as the strongest storm to hit Japan for more than six decades, caused widespread damage across low-lying land in central and eastern parts of the country, with rivers bursting their banks after hours of torrential rain and howling winds. Hagibis, which means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog, forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and affected shinkansen bullet train services, the Japanese state broadcaster NHK said, reporting that more than 100 people had been injured. Hagibis also caused disruption to major international sports events scheduled to take place over the three-day weekend, including the Rugby World Cup, forcing the cancellation of several pool matches. Millions of residents of Tokyo awoke to sunshine and clear skies, and many train lines resumed services, but authorities warned that rivers in eastern Japan could still overflow and inflict more damage. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, held an emergency meeting and offered his support to all those affected by the disaster – the second destructive storm to hit Japan in the space of a month. “I extend my condolences to all those who lost their lives and offer my sympathies to all those impacted,” Abe said. “With respect to blackouts, water outage and suspension of transportation services, we will do our utmost to bring about a swift recovery. We ask the public to stay vigilant in case of landslides and other hazards.” The government said 27,000 members of the self-defence forces and other emergency workers had been sent to Nagano prefecture – one of the most badly affected regions – and other affected areas to help with the rescue effort. TV footage showed military helicopters airlifting stranded people from homes that had been flooded by river water. Some families, including those with small children, had been forced to seek safety on their roofs. One clip showed a helicopter hovering over a flooded area in Nagano prefecture, where an embankment of the Chikuma River had broken and unleashed sheets of water across residential areas. The helicopter plucked those stranded on the second floor of a home submerged in muddy waters. Aerial footage showed tractors at work trying to control the flooding. Meanwhile, rows of bullet trains were left sitting in a pool of water at a depot. The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was wrecked by a deadly tsunami in March 2011, reported irregular readings from sensors monitoring water at the facility. Emi Iwasa, a spokeswoman for Tokyo Electric Power, said the storm had triggered 11 leak alerts at the plant, eight of which were confirmed as having been caused by rainwater. The utility has not confirmed if any radioactive water leaked into sea. Away from the plant, a stretch of Fukushima was flooded, with only the rooftops of residential homes visible. Parts of nearby Miyagi prefecture were also under water. The Tama river system, which runs by Tokyo, overflowed its banks. Authorities at one point issued evacuation advisories and orders for more than 6 million people as the storm unleashed heavy rain and winds. “The major typhoon has caused immense damage far and wide in eastern Japan,” Yoshihide Suga, the government’s top spokesman, told reporters. “The water came up higher than my head in the house,” said Hajime Tokuda, a resident of Kawasaki, near Tokyo. In Higashimatsuyama city, north-west of Tokyo, rice and flower farmers were counting their losses,water submerging warehouses full of freshly harvested crops. “We never had a flood like this before in this neighbourhood,” said one farmer, who declined to give his name. “We cannot even go into the flower warehouse due to the water. I don’t know where to start cleaning up this mess.” Authorities warned of a continuing threat from mudslides. Among the reported deaths were those whose homes had been buried. Other fatalities included people who were swept away by raging rivers. Suga said damage to housing was extensive, but promised help was on its way. By Sunday afternoon, more than 160,000 homes were without electricity, the public broadcaster NHK said, adding that about 1,000 people in Chiba, east of Tokyo, were experiencing water shortages. The widespread loss of electricity has again raised questions about Japan’s power infrastructure, weeks after Typhoon Faxai destroyed or damaged 30,000 houses in Chiba and caused extensive power cuts. The improvements in safety infrastructure that accompanied Japan’s postwar modernisation were apparent, however. The authorities had repeatedly warned that Hagibis’s strength was on a par with a typhoon that hit the Tokyo region 61 years ago, but that storm, Typhoon Ida, left more than 1,200 people dead and half a million houses flooded. The Rugby World Cup match between Namibia and Canada, scheduled for Sunday in Kamaishi on the country’s north-east coast, was cancelled, but the decisive fixture between Japan and Scotland in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, will go ahead the same evening. Qualifying for the Japanese Formula One race in Suzuka was pushed back from Saturday to Sunday.
|
Justin McCurry in Yokohama and agencies
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/13/typhoon-hagibis-rescue-and-recovery-in-full-swing-after-deadly-storm
|
Sun, 13 Oct 2019 12:34:21 GMT
| 1,570,984,461 | 1,571,006,807 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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730,580 |
thehuffingtonpost--2019-12-27--Typhoon Phanfone Claims Dozens Of Lives In Philippines
| 2019-12-27T00:00:00 |
thehuffingtonpost
|
Typhoon Phanfone Claims Dozens Of Lives In Philippines
|
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong typhoon that barreled through the central Philippines left at least 28 dead and 12 missing, and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, flooded low-lying villages, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical poles and knocked out power in entire provinces. One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day. “You can’t see anybody because there was a total blackout, you can’t hear anything. The town looked like a ghost town,” Cindy Ferrer of the regional Office of the Civil Defense said by phone. The storm weakened as it blew into the South China Sea with sustained winds of 74 miles per hour and gusts of 93 mph, after lashing island after island with fierce winds and pounding rain on Christmas Day, the weather agency said. Most of the deaths reported by police and local officials were due to drowning, falling trees and accidental electrocution. A father, his three children and another relative were among those missing in hard-hit Iloilo province after a swollen river inundated their shanty. Rescuers carry a body, believed to be one of several fishermen who went missing at the height of Typhoon Phanfone. The typhoon slammed into Eastern Samar province on Christmas Eve and then plowed across the archipelago’s central region on Christmas, slamming into seven coastal towns and island provinces without losing power. Provincial officials, army troops, police and volunteers spent Christmas away from home to tend to thousands of displaced residents in town gymnasiums and schools turned into emergency shelters. Many more people spent Christmas Eve, traditionally a time for family reunions, in bus terminals. An outrigger boat destroyed by the storm in Ormoc City, central Philippines. The typhoon left over a dozen dead and many homeless. More than 25,000 people were stranded in sea ports across the central region and outlying provinces after the coast guard prohibited ferries and cargo ships from venturing into dangerously choppy waters. Dozens of international and domestic flights to and from the region were canceled, including to popular beach and surfing resorts. About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. The Southeast Asian nation is also located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often occur, making the country of more than 100 million people one of the world’s most disaster prone. Phanfone, a Laotian word for animal, traveled along a path similar to that of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most ferocious storms on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead and missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million people in the central Philippines in 2013.
| null |
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/typhoon-phanfone-philippines_n_5e05af03e4b0b2520d13e207
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Fri, 27 Dec 2019 02:21:44 -0500
| 1,577,431,304 | 1,577,448,762 |
weather
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weather phenomena
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993,498 |
thesun--2019-12-27--Philippines typhoon – Death toll rises to 28 as Christmas disaster leaves 12 missing
| 2019-12-27T00:00:00 |
thesun
|
Philippines typhoon – Death toll rises to 28 as Christmas disaster leaves 12 missing
|
A TYPHOON ripped through central Philippines over the Christmas period killing 28 and leaving 12 missing. More than 58,000 people were evacuated from their homes as Typhoon Phanfone struck the Philippines on Tuesday, bringing with it heavy rain and flooding. Among those killed were a 13-year-old boy who was electrocuted and a man who was killed by a falling tree branch. Another victim was killed in a car crash during the horrific storm. The Philippine ABS-CBN network also reported a family was killed when they were swept away by a flash flood as they tried to escape. Photographs across central provinces of Capiz, Iloilo and Leyte show widespread damage, with homes completely destroyed by the 93mph wind gusts and winds of up to 75mph. People were forced to wade through the flood waters, while others were pictured taking refuge in their homes surrounded by the rising tides. More than 58,000 people had been evacuated from their homes before the storm hit on Tuesday. It then made its way across the Philippines on Wednesday night - moving wast over the South China sea. Others were left stranded at airports as they tried to get home for Christmas, with buildings around airports including in Kalibo smashed by the winds and water. Roads have also been left blocked by the flood waters, along with fallen trees and debris. The typhoon came after nearby regions were devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. More than 6,000 people had been killed when the typhoon with winds of more than 193mph swept across the region in November of that year. The winds made it the most powerful storm to ever hit land.
|
Brittany Vonow
|
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10620704/typhoon-phanfone-philippines-christmas-storm-13-dead/
|
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 11:44:05 +0000
| 1,577,465,045 | 1,577,449,722 |
weather
|
weather phenomena
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1,031,592 |
thetorontostar--2019-12-26--Christmas typhoon leaves 20 dead in Philippines
| 2019-12-26T00:00:00 |
thetorontostar
|
Christmas typhoon leaves 20 dead in Philippines
|
MANILA, Philippines - A strong typhoon that barrelled through the central Philippines left at least 20 people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes, devastating Christmas celebrations in the predominantly Catholic country. Typhoon Phanfone stranded many people in sea and airports at the peak of holiday travel, set off landslides, engulfed low-lying villages with floods, destroyed houses, downed trees and electrical posts and knocked out power in entire provinces. One disaster response officer described the battered coastal town of Batad in Iloilo province as a “ghost town” on Christmas Day. “You can’t see anybody because there was a total blackout, you can’t hear anything. The town looked like a ghost town,” Cindy Ferrer of the regional Office of the Civil Defence said by phone. The storm weakened slightly on Thursday as it blew into the South China Sea with sustained winds of 120 kilometres (74 miles) per hour and gusts of 150 kph (93 mph) after lashing island after island with fierce winds and pounding rain on Christmas Day, the weather agency said. Most of the 20 deaths reported by officials were due to drowning, falling trees and accidental electrocution. A father, his three children and another relative were among those missing in hard-hit Iloilo province after a swollen river inundated their shanty, officials said. The typhoon slammed into Eastern Samar province on Christmas Eve and then barrelled across the archipelago’s central region on Christmas, slamming into seven coastal towns and island provinces without losing power, government forecasters said. Provincial officials, army troops, police and volunteers spent Christmas away from home to tend to thousands of displaced residents in town gymnasiums and schools turned into emergency shelters. More than 25,000 people were stranded in sea ports across the central region and outlying provinces after the coast guard prohibited ferries and cargo ships from venturing into dangerously choppy waters. Dozens of domestic flights to and from the region were cancelled. About 20 typhoons and storms batter the Philippines each year. The Southeast Asian nation is also located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often occur, making the country of more than 100 million people one of the world’s most disaster prone. Get more of the Star in your inbox Never miss the latest news from the Star. Sign up for our newsletters to get today's top stories, your favourite columnists and lots more in your inbox Sign Up Now
|
Jim Gomez - The Associated Press
|
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/asia/2019/12/26/christmas-typhoon-leaves-16-dead-in-philippines.html
|
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 06:24:14 EST
| 1,577,359,454 | 1,577,361,738 |
weather
|
weather phenomena
|
1,066,915 |
upi--2019-10-12--At least 3 dead, over 80 injured after deadly Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in Japan
| 2019-10-12T00:00:00 |
upi
|
At least 3 dead, over 80 injured after deadly Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in Japan
|
The day before Hagibis made landfall in Japan, residents of Tokyo were scraping for the last supermarkets had to sell across the city as they prepared for what the Japan Times reported Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike had called "a typhoon of unprecedented scale." Hagibis rapidly strengthened in the West Pacific to become the third super typhoon of the season last week. The storm went from a tropical depression with sustained winds of 30 mph to a super typhoon producing winds of 150 mph only 48 hours later. At a peak strength of 160 mph, the typhoon tied with Wutip from February as the most powerful tropical cyclone in the West Pacific Basin this year. Although the Japan Meteorological Agency had downgraded the status of the storm to a "strong" typhoon before landfall in Japan, the agency had warned in a news conference during that Friday morning the storm could be as severe as the Kanogawa Typhoon, which had killed more than 1,200 people in 1958 and is one of the deadliest typhoons on record, the New York Times reported. By 5 a.m. local time Saturday, the JMA had downgraded the scale of Hagibis from a "large and strong" typhoon to a "large" typhoon with maximum sustained winds of about 70 mph and gusts of about 98 mph. The deadly Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in Japan just before 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, moving ashore near Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture and packing winds of the equivalent strength as a Category 2 hurricane in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Ocean basins. As of 7 a.m. local time, at least three people have died and nine others are missing during in the chaos that Hagibis has brought. The NHK reported four people are missing after two landslides destroyed homes in the Gunma and Fukushima prefectures and four others had been swept away by floodwaters. A man is also missing in the Shizuoka Prefecture. The Tochigi City Fire Department told Kyodo News Sunday morning that a woman who had been previously reported as missing had been found dead in a waterway around 4:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. Twelve hours before landfall, evacuation advisories were set in place for 86,846 households and 191,878 people in Odawara, a city in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture at 7 a.m. Saturday morning local time, according to local news station NHK. The evacuation advisory was at a warning level 4 out of 5, calling for immediate evacuation. As the number of evacuations began to mount toward at least 4 million people, the NHK said, so did the number of power outages across the regions. Bands of wind and rain preceding Hagibis knocked out the power for more than 270,000 households. By just after midnight local time, over 431,900 homes were without power after landfall. Some locations may be without power for an extended period during and following the storm. Wind gusts measured up to 100 mph at Kozushima, one of the islands south of Tokyo an hour after landfall at 8 p.m. local time, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty. "The strongest wind will be near the coast where some damage is possible. This is an area that was just hit by Faxai early in September that brought significant damage," Douty said. By 5 a.m. local time on Friday, areas around Shizuoka, Japan, were already flooding. "One of the big issues with Hagibis will be the heavy rain coming in a short period of time along and to the north of the storm's path," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk said. The NHK reported that a record-level of nearly 1,000 millimeters of rain, or close to 39 inches, from the storm had fallen over Hakone Town in the Kanagawa Prefecture over a timespan of 48 hours. The Japan Meteorology Agency issued level 5 heavy rain emergencies - the highest level of warning in the JMA's five-level warning system - across at least seven prefectures early Sunday morning. "Reports of rainfall totals between 6 to 12 inches, or 152 to 304 millimeters, have been common across Kansai, Chubu and Kanto through Saturday night, local time, but locally higher amounts have been reported in higher elevations of the mountains," AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly said. "Chichibu reported 20.11 inches, or 511 millimeters, of rainfall through Saturday night. At least seven rivers are in their flooding stages in central and eastern Japan, according to NHK news. Early Sunday morning, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided to apply the Disaster Relief Law to the 25 wards and municipalities of Tokyo due to the damage caused by Hagibis, the news source said. This means that government and city aid will pay for the installation of evacuation shetlers and emergency repairs for damaged homes. "Hagibis will move offshore by Sunday morning and conditions will quickly improve throughout the day across northern areas in mainland Japan and Hokkaido," Kelly said. "While high pressure building over northern Japan will bring dry conditions on Sunday night, a weak storm system will begin to develop near southern Japan. This system can bring occasional showers to coastal locations of Kansai, Chubu and Kanto, areas hardest hit by Hagibis." In the storm's approach, most events scheduled for Saturday had been rescheduled for Sunday, including Saturday's qualifying race for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka International Racing Course. With the storm moving away from Tokyo by 6 a.m. Sunday morning, transportation operations such as the Haneda Airport are beginning to resume once again. "Another cold front is expected to move over Japan and bring occasional showers to the area during the beginning of next week," Kelly said. "By the middle of the week, dry conditions look to return to areas recovering from Hagibis. Dry weather may last through the end of the week before the next chance of rain arrives in southern Japan."
| null |
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/10/12/At-least-3-dead-over-80-injured-after-deadly-Typhoon-Hagibis-made-landfall-in-Japan/5711570927918/
|
Sat, 12 Oct 2019 21:06:41 -0400
| 1,570,928,801 | 1,570,977,106 |
weather
|
weather phenomena
|
291 |
21stcenturywire--2019-04-27--Israel to Release Two Syrian Prisoners in Good Will Gesture Following Return of Israeli Soldiers
| 2019-04-27T00:00:00 |
21stcenturywire
|
Israel to Release Two Syrian Prisoners in ‘Good Will Gesture’ Following Return of Israeli Soldier’s Body
|
This is a new twist to a story which surfaced earlier this month in a deal between Syria and Israel, seemingly brokered by Russia. According to reports, Israel will release two Syrians currently being held in Israeli prisons. They are Zidan Tweil, arrested in 2008 for drug smuggling, and a supposed ‘Fatah operative,’ and Hamis Ahmad, arrested in 2005 for “attempting to infiltrate an Israeli military base and harm soldiers.” This follows on the heals of a pre-election agreement to repatriate the long lost remains of the deceased IDF soldier – a move which was said to have helped Netanyahu in his embattled election bid earlier this month. At the time, some skeptics were accusing Putin of handing Netanyahu ‘an election gift‘ – perhaps without knowing the full story which would later unfold. As it turns out, the reciprocal move by Israel was part of a quid pro quo agreement, seemingly brokered by Russia. This was confirmed by Russia’s envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, who said Friday that Israel had agreed to release the two Syrian citizens in exchange for of Baumel’s remains. Israel will release two Syrian prisoners as a “good will gesture” after the recovery of the body of missing Israel soldier, Zachary Baumel, an Israeli official announced on April 27, according to the Times of Israel. The official said that the decision to release the Syrian prisoners was taken few days ago without the cabinet approval. However, the decision bypassed the Israeli laws with the consent of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. Israel recovered the remains of Zachary Baumel, a U.S.-born Israeli soldier missing since a 1982 tank battle against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), earlier this month. Russian and Syrian forces played a key role in the recovery of the remains, according to President Vladimir Putin. The Israeli official’s announcement confirmed a recent statement by Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, in which he said that Israel will soon release Syrian prisoners. The identities of the two Syrian prisoners who will be released from Israeli jails is yet to be revealed. However, Israeli media claim that they are Syrian Druze from the occupied al-Golan Heights, who were jailed because of their cooperation with the Damascus government.
|
21wire
|
https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/04/27/israel-to-release-two-syrian-prisoners-in-good-will-gesture-following-return-of-israeli-soldiers-body/
|
2019-04-27 11:37:44+00:00
| 1,556,379,464 | 1,567,541,820 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
426,217 |
pravadareport--2019-09-09--Moscow trapped by exchanging prisoners with Kiev
| 2019-09-09T00:00:00 |
pravadareport
|
Moscow trapped by exchanging prisoners with Kiev
|
Having exchanged prisoners with Kiev, Moscow fell into a trap as Russia has in fact admitted to being a part of the Ukrainian conflict. The actions of the Kremlin have internal consequences too. Why Washington is happy with the exchange US National Security Advisor John Bolton wrote on Twitter Monday that Washington considers the weekend exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine very important. Apparently, Washington's optimism is due to the fact that the US could drive Moscow into a trap should such exchanges continue. Russia would thus show her involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Indeed, having exchanged participants of the "Russian spring" (they hold Ukrainian citizenship) for Ukrainian terrorists (only 12 of the 35 prisoners from the Russian list were Russians), Moscow assumes responsibility for their "crimes." For example, Russia becomes responsible for the actions of Alexander Sattarov, a Berkut policeman who was detained in December 2017 in Dnepropetrovsk on charges of separatism. Such a development changes the nature of the Ukrainian conflict dramatically. If it were a civil war, as Moscow insists, then Donetsk and Lugansk would have to exchange prisoners of war with Kiev within the scope of the Minsk Accordsб which they signed, while Russia and Ukraine would have to do it by exchanging Ukrainians for Russians. Moscow's "direct participation" in the conflict will now be justified, for example, by the protection of its agents. This may tighten sanctions against Russia even more. Moscow's actions have internal consequences. The move to exchange prisoners with Ukraine could be made to target Putin's supporters across Russia. The majority of those who support the Russian president, do not understand why the Kremlin should care too much for those prisoners that hold dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship. Such a move, they believe, causes moral damage to those, who denounce Ukrainian citizenship and hope for independence and reunification with Russia. The fact that the names of the heroes of the "Russian spring" remain hidden from public attention also seems confusing to many. The faces of those people are blurred when shown on federal TV channels. Moscow stands up for those men, so people deserve to know what they were arrested for and what they did for the protection of the Russian world. In good conscience, given the president's message about the protection of Russians in Ukraine, the Russian authorities should have arranged a welcoming ceremony for those people to thank them for their struggle against the fascist regime of Petro Poroshenko. It is shameful to fear new sanctions while proclaiming sovereignty and protection of the "Russian world" through the mouth of the president. Ukraine is split in terms of its attitude to Russia, and this is not going to change ever. There are historical roots to this phenomenon. During the times of the Russian Empire, the Ukrainians were called Little Russians, who betrayed Orthodoxy and lived in remote regions of the country. The "Ukrainization" under Soviet rule and the next 25 years of independence resulted in the growth of Ukrainian nationalism, which became a system-forming factor. The Ukrainians did not vote for Poroshenko for economic, rather than political reasons. Russia should not be playing the game of fraternity with Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine is home to many ethnic Russians, whom Russia should protect along with their historical territories. The construction of the Crimean Bridge is a positive story. The Crimea had been handed over to Ukraine largely because it was necessary to solve the water supply problem there during the times of the USSR. Today, the Crimea lives under the conditions of the water blockade. The Crimea will be doomed to stagnation, unless this problem is resolved. One should therefore address the issue of Novorossiya as an independent state.
| null |
http://www.pravdareport.com/world/142725-ukraine_prisoners/
|
2019-09-09 16:23:00+00:00
| 1,568,060,580 | 1,569,330,676 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
184,108 |
eveningstandard--2019-09-07--Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners in bid to improve relations
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners in bid to improve relations
|
A major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine has seen 35 people detained in each country freed and then flown to the other, a move that could advance relations between the two nations and help end five years of fighting in Ukraine's east. The exchange involved some of the highest-profile prisoners caught up in a bitter stand-off between Ukraine and Russia. Among those Russia returned was Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, whose conviction for preparing terrorist attacks was strongly denounced abroad, and 24 Ukrainian sailors taken with a ship the Russian navy seized last year. The prisoners released by Ukraine included Volodymyr Tsemakh, who commanded a separatist rebel air defence unit in the area where a Malaysian airliner was shot down in 2014, killing all 298 people aboard. Dozens of Ukrainian politicians had urged President Volodymyr Zelenskiy against trading Tsemakh, who Dutch investigators examining what happened to the plane want to question. Mr Zelenskiy greeted the freed prisoners as they stepped down from the plane that had brought them from Moscow to Kiev's Boryspil airport. Relatives waiting on the tarmac surged forward to hug their loved ones. Most of the ex-detainees appeared to be in good physical condition, although one struggled down the steps on crutches and another was held by the arms as he slowly navigated the steps. Vyacheslav Zinchenko, 30, one of the released sailors, said: "Hell has ended; everyone is alive and that is the main thing." He and 23 others were seized after Russian ships fired on two Ukrainian vessels on November 25 in the Kerch Strait, located between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov next to Russia-annexed Crimea. Nikolai Karpyuk, who was imprisoned in 2016 after he was convicted of killing Russians in Chechnya in the 1990s, said: "Russia was not able to break me even though they tried hard to do this." At Moscow's Vnukovo airport, the released prisoners remained on the plane for about 15 minutes for unknown reasons. When they came off, many toting baggage, a bus drove them to a medical facility for examination. Another Ukrainian on the plane from Moscow was Kirill Vyshinsky, head of Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti's Ukraine branch. He had been jailed since 2018 on treason charges. The exchange comes amid renewed hope that a solution can be found to the fighting in Ukraine's east that has killed 13,000 people since 2014. Prospects appeared to rise last month with the announcement of a planned summit of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany - the four countries with representatives in the long-dormant "Normandy format", a group seeking to end the conflict. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign relations committee in the Russian parliament's upper house, said the exchange represented a move "in the direction of crossing from confrontation to dialogue, and one can only thank those thanks to whose strength this became possible".
|
Katy Clifton
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/ukraine-and-russia-exchange-prisoners-in-bid-to-improve-relations-a4231321.html
|
2019-09-07 13:56:00+00:00
| 1,567,878,960 | 1,569,330,877 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
199,515 |
fortruss--2019-09-02--The exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine is postponed
| 2019-09-02T00:00:00 |
fortruss
|
The exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine is postponed
|
The exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine is postponed KIEV – Ukraine and Russia do not intend to exchange prisoners this September 2, the lawyer of Russian citizens held in Ukraine, Valentin Ribin, said. “Today there will be not [an exchange], no one will go anywhere until there is a Zelenski decree on the pardon,” he said. The spokeswoman for the Security Service of Ukraine, Elena Guitliánskaya, said on August 30 that nothing prevents the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine and all the corresponding procedures “move forward as planned.” Kiev and Moscow are finalizing the date and details of the prisoner swap. Last week, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, said he expects “in the next few days” results of the work that has been done for two months to exchange prisoners with Russia. The Kremlin, meanwhile, confirmed last week that Russia and Ukraine maintain contacts in this regard, but at the same time denied that a date had been set for the future exchange of prisoners. In 2014, Ukraine launched an operation against militias in the east of its territory – Donbass – where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk were proclaimed, in response to the violent change of government in Kiev in February of the same year. The Minsk agreements laid the groundwork for a political resolution of the conflict, but until recently they failed to stop the hostilities. Among the measures drawn up in February 2015 in order to comply with the agreement is “the release of all hostages and the exchange of prisoners of war.” Russia maintains certain contacts with Ukraine on the exchange of prisoners between the two countries, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov days ago. “I can say that we maintain certain contacts but I cannot add anything else,” Peskov told reporters when asked about the issue. Peskov added that the Kremlin greets the release of the head of the RIA Novosti Ukraina portal, Kiril Vishinski, by the Kiev Court of Appeals. “I want to remind you of a statement by [Russian President, Vladimir] Putin, who said that it can be judged only by concrete facts, by concrete words, and we must wait for it; there are concrete steps, such as the release of Vishinski, what we greet,” he said. He added that Moscow closely follows the readjustments in the Ukrainian government and called on it to comply with the Minsk Agreements to normalize relations with Russia.
|
Paul Antonopoulos
|
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/09/the-exchange-of-prisoners-between-russia-and-ukraine-is-postponed/
|
2019-09-02 13:30:45+00:00
| 1,567,445,445 | 1,569,331,660 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
218,157 |
france24--2019-12-29--Ukraine swaps 200 prisoners with pro-Russian separatists
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Ukraine swaps 200 prisoners with pro-Russian separatists
|
Ukrainian prisoners are escorted by pro-Russian separatists near the Mayorsk crossing point in the Donetsk region on December 29, 2019. Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country's war-torn east exchanged 200 prisoners on Sunday, swapping detained fighters for civilians and servicemen held captive in some cases for years in the breakaway regions. “The mutual release of the detainees has ended,” the presidential office in Kiev said in a statement on Facebook. The Ukrainian presidency said Kiev received 76 captives, while separatist officials said the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics took in a total of 124 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the swap as "positive". The agreement was concluded by Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris in December. The swap took place at a check point near the industrial town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region. Kiev's forces have been battling separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement. There have been several prisoner exchanges between Kiev and the rebels. In the last swap, conducted in December 2017, Ukraine handed over about 300 captives to pro-Russian separatists and took back around 70. Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and its subsequent supporut for separatists in the eastern Donbass region. President Zelenskiy won a landslide election victory in April promising to end the conflict. Widely criticized domestically for his plan to grant special status to Donbass to help end the five-year conflict, Zelenskiy's latest actions have given rise to cautious optimism. In September, after a carefully negotiated rapprochement, Russia and Ukraine swapped dozens of prisoners. The move brought Western praise and hopes that relations between Moscow and Kiev could thaw. The released Ukrainians included sailors detained by Russia during a clash in waters off Crimea last year, and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia. The meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French leaders earlier this month in Paris renewed optimism for a resolution to the conflict, and confirmed the relevance of an early peace agreement signed in Belarusian capital Minsk in 2015. Relations between the two countries are also unlikely to be aggravated by a dispute in the gas sector, where Kiev and Moscow are arguing about a new transit contract to replace the current agreement which expires at the end of the year. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using natural gas supplies to put pressure on the neighbouring state, but last week the parties managed to agree on the main points of a new deal.
|
FRANCE 24
|
https://www.france24.com/en/20191229-ukraine-begins-prisoner-swap-with-pro-russian-separatists
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 11:06:58 GMT
| 1,577,635,618 | 1,577,666,023 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
426,208 |
pravadareport--2019-09-05--Putin Russia and Ukraine will hold large-scale exchange of prisoners
| 2019-09-05T00:00:00 |
pravadareport
|
Putin: Russia and Ukraine will hold large-scale exchange of prisoners
|
The talks between Russia and Ukraine about the mutual exchange of captivated individuals are entering the final stage, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Based on considerations of humanity, we are approaching the finalization of the negotiations that we have been conducting, without limitation, with official authorities. I think this will become known in the near future," Putin said, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum and answering a question about the possible timing for the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. According to the president, it will be a large-scale exchange that will play a positive role in bilateral relations. "I think that from a historical perspective this will inevitably happen. In my opinion, the relations will normalise completely, because we are two parts of the same people, as I have said many times before," Putin said, emphasizing that the development of the situation in the near future largely depends on the Ukrainian leadership. Earlier, Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who takes part in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on the issue of exchange of prisoners, said that he would like to meet with Russian President Putin on Thursday. Medvedchuk arrived in Vladivostok for the purpose. "I think that Mr. Medvedchuk is going to torment me on this issue. I know that he is specifically concerned about several people held in places of imprisonment in the Russian Federation, and it was rather difficult for us to make decisions regarding those specific people," Putin said.
| null |
http://www.pravdareport.com/news/russia/142713-putin/
|
2019-09-05 11:00:00+00:00
| 1,567,695,600 | 1,569,331,227 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
470,408 |
rferl--2019-08-23--Ukraine Russia Reportedly Preparing To Exchange Dozens Of Prisoners
| 2019-08-23T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Ukraine, Russia Reportedly Preparing To Exchange Dozens Of Prisoners
|
Kyiv and Moscow are reportedly preparing a prisoner exchange that would see each side swapping 33 detainees, possibly including Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian forces late last year. RBK media group, citing unnamed sources in Russia late on August 22, said the swap of 33 Ukrainian citizens held in Russia for 33 Russian citizens held in Ukraine could occur soon. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to RBK that Moscow and Kyiv were negotiating a prisoner exchange, but he did not elaborate. One of the sources told RBK that Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who used to be a Ukrainian citizen and is being held in Ukraine on high-treason charges of high, was not included in the exchange because Moscow wants his outright release. It is also not clear if Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov would be among the individuals set for exchange. Sentsov, who openly protested Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, is serving 20-year prison term in Russia on terrorism charges, which he and his supporters have rejected. The sources told RBK that Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova was in Moscow to work on the exchange. The TASS news agency reported on August 23 that her Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, had arrived in Kyiv for a one-day visit. Also on August 22, Russian lawyer Valentin Rybin told the TASS news agency that his three clients being held in Ukraine -- Russian citizens Maksim Odintsov, Aleksandr Baranov, and Yevgeny Mefyodov -- were going through judicial procedures in preparation for the exchange "in the nearest future." On August 21, the Kommersant newspaper quoted sources close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as saying that the exchange could take place by the end of August and among the Ukrainians set to be transferred to Kyiv could be 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces in November near the Kerch Strait close to Russia-annexed Crimea. The Moscow-based Memorial human rights center said this week that five Ukrainians held in Russia -- Volodymyr Balukh, Stanislav Klykh, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Pavlo Hryb, and Mykola Karpyuk -- had been transferred from labor camps in several different regions to the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow, possibly in advance of an exchange. Kyiv has said that Russia illegally holds about 150 Ukrainian nationals on its territory. Ukrainian officials mentioned that figure when talking about the list of prisoners prepared for possible exchange by the two countries' ombudswomen in July. The list of Russian citizens set for the swap has never been made public. The United States and European Union have called on Russia to free dozens of Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia, Moscow-annexed Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists. Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014, after sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. Moscow is also backing separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-reportedly-preparing-to-exchange-dozens-of-prisoners/30124930.html
|
2019-08-23 08:07:00+00:00
| 1,566,562,020 | 1,567,533,625 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
542,605 |
sputnik--2019-08-30--Russia Ukraine Will Not Exchange Prisoners on Friday Exact Date Not Set Yet - Ukraines Security S
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Russia, Ukraine Will Not Exchange Prisoners on Friday, Exact Date Not Set Yet - Ukraine's Security Service
|
Ukraine and Russia will not exchange prisoners on Friday, and the exact date of the long-awaited swap has not been set yet, but nothing prevents it from taking place, the press secretary of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Elena Gitlyanskaya, said. "We do not reveal the date, but I can say it will not happen today. The final date has not been set yet," Gitlyanskaya said, as quoted by Obozrevatel news portal. She also said that there were no obstacles to the exchange, adding that everything was "going as scheduled." The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted on Friday claims that the country had already completed its prisoner exchange with Russia, stressing that the process continued. "The process of mutual release of detained persons continues. Information about its completion does not reflect the reality," the office wrote on its Telegram channel. An official announcement will be made when the exchange is completed, the Ukrainian presidential office noted. Ukraine and Russia continue their negotiations on prisoner exchange, the press secretary of the Security Service of Ukraine, Elena Gitlyanskaya, said on Friday. "Dear journalists, the complicated process of negotiations about prisoner exchange continues. Be patient, I hope it won't take long. Do not spread unverified information. Keeping our fingers crossed!" Gitlyanskaya wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, although the exact date of the exchange remains unknown, Ukrainian lawmaker Akhtem Chiygoz said on Thursday he expected it to take place on Friday. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there are certain contacts in preparation for the prisoner exchange. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Ruslan Ryaboshapka, the deputy head of his presidential office, the country's prosecutor general, according to a decree issued early on Friday. On Thursday, Ukrainian lawmakers supported Ryaboshapka's candidacy introduced by the president.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/world/201908301076677153-claims-that-ukraine-completed-prisoner-exchange-with-russia-false---zelensky-administration/
|
2019-08-30 05:46:00+00:00
| 1,567,158,360 | 1,569,416,985 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
543,394 |
sputnik--2019-09-06--Zelenskyy Pardons Prisoners Being Prepared for Russia-Ukraine Simultaneous Release - Lawyer
| 2019-09-06T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Zelenskyy Pardons Prisoners Being Prepared for Russia-Ukraine Simultaneous Release - Lawyer
|
"At the assembly point of the persons who participate in the exchange, there are almost all on the list agreed upon earlier. The Ukrainian side, taking into account the fact that people who are subject to a presidential decree on pardon, are delivered to the assembly point, has fulfilled almost all of its obligations achieved at the talks," Rybin said in a video message posted on his Facebook page. The lawyer added that Kiev had excluded Russian Ruslan Gadzhiev from the Russia-Ukraine list for the simultaneous release of detainees and convicted persons. "I learned about the exclusion from the list of Russian citizen Gadzhiev Ruslan Dzhupalovich," Rybin said in a video message, posted on his Facebook page. Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that the issue of prisoners' exchange would be settled in the near future. Preparations for prisoners' exchange between Russia and Ukraine intensified after Volodymyr Zelenskyy became Ukraine's new president in May. According to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, discussed the situation surrounding the prisoners twice, during phone talks on 12 July and 7 August. In the middle of July, Russia's Human Rights Ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova and her Ukrainian counterpart Lyudmila Denisova exchanged the lists of prisoners. Denisova's list contained the names of 150 people, while the Russian list had 34 names. Later, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Prosecutor General Larisa Sargan said there would be a "35 for 35" prisoners' swap between the two countries.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201909061076740505-zelenskyy-pardons-prisoners-being-prepared-for-russia-ukraine-simultaneous-release--lawyer/
|
2019-09-06 16:36:46+00:00
| 1,567,802,206 | 1,569,331,117 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
550,962 |
sputnik--2019-11-26--Saudi Coalition Releases 200 Houthi Prisoners as Backroom Yemen Peace Deal Edges Closer
| 2019-11-26T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Saudi Coalition Releases 200 Houthi Prisoners as Backroom Yemen Peace Deal Edges Closer
|
On Tuesday, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that 200 Houthi prisoners had been released as part of the Stockholm Agreement prisoner exchange, Xinhua News Agency reported. International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson Ruth Hetherington told Reuters the group was aware of the coalition’s “intention to release 200 detainees,” noting, “We are in contact with the parties in this regard. We are ready to facilitate the repatriation of these detainees.” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior official in Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthi movement, told Reuters the movement welcomed the release, which follows the unilateral release of 350 coalition prisoners held by the Houthis in September. The war in Yemen has raged since March 2015, when Yemeni President Adrabbuh Mansur Hadi fled the country for Riyadh amid a steady takeover by the Houthi movement and allied supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hailing from a Zaidi Shiite minority near the Saudi border, the Houthis objected to Hadi’s federalization scheme for the country and his sharp slashing of social programs, as well as a sharp spike in gas prices that hit the Houthis especially hard. However, Riyadh and its allies have failed to accomplish any of their goals in the conflict, which grows increasingly expensive in both money and international clout. At the same time, the Houthis have not only been able to hold on to existing territory amid Saudi strikes and Western weaponry, but in the last year they have repeatedly gone on the offensive, mounting missile strikes on airports, air bases and economically central oil facilities inside Saudi Arabia. The most dramatic but also most controversial example is the pair of strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Eastern Province in mid-September, for which Houthi claims of credit were contradicted by US intelligence, which pointed the finger at Iran. The US has blamed Iran for the Houthis’ success, as have Tehran’s regional rivals, Israel and Saudi Arabia, which claim Iran is waging a proxy war in Yemen. However, no substantial intelligence has verified these claims, and experts have noted they defy reasonable explanation. Meanwhile, signs increasingly point toward secret negotiations between the two sides being held in neighboring Oman for the past several weeks. Other sources have lent increasing credence to the claims. Foreign Policy noted that Saudi Vice Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman (KBS), brother to de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, paid a visit to Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said in Muscat on November 11. Former Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the outlet KBS’ visit reflected “a commitment to a final comprehensive peace … and a realization that there is no military solution to the conflict. I believe Prince KBS hopefully has come with a new vision to put an end to a costly war which has created great regional stability.” “The war has exhausted Saudi Arabia financially, and the worsening military situation in its south is not in its best interest,” Nabeel Khoury, the former deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Sana’a, told the US-based outlet Al-Monitor on Tuesday. “The fact that Prince Khalid has been assigned the Yemeni dossier is positive because it is a complicated issue and it needs a full-time decision-maker who Mohammed bin Salman trusts.” It’s far from the first attempt at a peace deal: a September ceasefire in the aftermath of the Saudi Aramco attacks fell apart almost as quickly as it was created, and local ceasefires, such as that agreed to in December 2018 around the vital port city of Hudaydah, have seen thousands of violations. Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yousuf Bin Alawi said on Omani media Tuesday that there was a reciprocal desire for stability and security, Abu Dhabi-based Gulf News reported, noting the minister declined to further elaborate. The outlet noted his remarks followed a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash has also expressed support for the talks, noting at a political conference earlier this month in Abu Dhabi the possibility of the Houthis being involved in a future Yemeni government. "Such an agreement must take account of the legitimate aspirations of all parts of Yemeni society. That includes the Houthis," Gargash said, according to a Tuesday report from the London-based New Arab. "Houthi militias have wreaked havoc on the country, but they are a part of Yemeni society and they will have a role in its future." News of the prisoner release is accompanied Tuesday by claims of a large-scale air raid on the Red Sea port of Mocha, also known as al-Makha, which is controlled by coalition-aligned forces. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saria told the group’s al-Masirah TV Monday the raid involved nine ballistic missiles and 20 drones and was in response to a previous attack by the targeted group against Hudaydah, which serves as a lifeline for the northern part of the country to the outside world. Saria said the strikes killed or injured more than 350 coalition troops and destroyed arms depots, armored vehicles and US-made Patriot air defense systems. "In recent weeks there have been entire 48-hour periods without airstrikes at all - the first time since the conflict began,” Griffiths said via video conference from his office in Amman, Jordan. “We call this a de-escalation and a reduction in the tempo of the war, and perhaps we hope a move to an overall ceasefire in Yemen that … many members of this Council have been calling for a very long time.”
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201911261077410331-saudi-coalition-releases-200-houthi-prisoners-as-backroom-yemen-peace-deal-edges-closer/
|
Tue, 26 Nov 2019 22:32:57 +0300
| 1,574,825,577 | 1,574,815,779 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
567,025 |
tass--2019-06-27--Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes handover of prisoners by Donbass republics
| 2019-06-27T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes handover of prisoners by Donbass republics
|
"This is an issue of direct contacts between Kiev, the DPR and the LPR, however, we welcome the fact [of the handover]," he said, commenting on Thursday’s meeting between head of the Political Council of the Ukrainian Party "Opposition Platform - For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk and DPR and LPR heads Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik. MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes the handover of detained persons by the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) to the Ukrainian side, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Artyom Kozhin said on Thursday. On the outcomes of the meeting, Donbass republics’ leaders have agreed to release four detained persons as a gesture of good will. The handover of four prisoners held in the DPR and the LPR will take place on Friday in Minsk. The Donbass republics’ leaders expect that this bilateral step would motivate the Ukrainian side to begin the process of the so-called "all identified for all identified" prisoner exchange in accordance with the Minsk Agreements. "The Ukrainian side continues to examine the exchange lists with the LPR and the DPR," Medvedchuk assured On June 19, members of the political subgroup of the Contact Group for the settlement in eastern Ukraine have discussed the possibility of prisoner exchange and agreed to exchange the necessary information. According to DPR human rights commissioner Daria Morozova, the exchange of detained persons between the DPR and Ukraine may take place in autumn of this year, if the Ukrainian side fulfills all the conditions necessary to ensure this process. The last large-scale exchange of detainees between Ukraine and the Donbass republics took place on December 27, 2017. Back then, Kiev exchanged 233 prisoners for 73 detained Ukrainian citizens. The parties underlined that the release of prisoners was not over and they would make every effort to continue this process. However, since then, the parties have been failing to reach new agreements on mutual release and exchange of prisoners.
| null |
https://tass.com/politics/1065892
|
2019-06-27 13:47:39+00:00
| 1,561,657,659 | 1,567,537,841 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
575,656 |
tass--2019-12-22--Ukraine creating new obstacles for exchange of prisoners - Lavrov
| 2019-12-22T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Ukraine creating new obstacles for exchange of prisoners - Lavrov
|
MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Kiev is creating obstacles for the exchange of prisoners with the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass insisting on the procedural clearance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday. "[The Normandy Four summit] in Paris called on the Contact Group to agree the lists for the exchange in the all identified for all identified format," he said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) program on Russia’s television Channel One. "The ultimate goal is ‘all-for-all’ but when over all these years they have been agreeing the lists, it turned out that not all of them happened to be mutually confirmed. Some lists are recognized by both sides as the lists of real people, with everyone knowing where there people are kept and how they can be released and exchanged. It was clearly fixed and it was discussed by the leaders - Vladimir Putin (of Russia) and Vladimir Zelensky (of Ukraine) in the presence of [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and [French President] Emmanuel Macron. They agreed that these people have been identified, their name are on the lists and hence they will be exchange." "Now, a new criteria has emerged in the Contact Group: not all of those identified are "procedurally cleared." It means a new obstacle hampering these people be home by the New Year and Christmas," Lavrov noted. A Normandy Four summit crisis was held in Paris on December 9, for the first time after a three-year break. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Emmanuel Macron of Germany, Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gathered in the Elysee Palace to discuss ways of settling the conflict in Donbass. The seven-hours talks yielded a final document committing to paper a number of concrete accords. Among the summit’s expected results was an agreement to exchange prisoners-of-war in Donbass under the formula of "all identified for all identified" by the yearend and to disengage forces at three more sections of the contact line by March 2020. However, the Contact Group that met in Minsk on December 18 failed to reach an agreement on concrete measures on the implementation of the summit’s document.
| null |
https://tass.com/politics/1102199
|
Sun, 22 Dec 2019 18:13:04 +0300
| 1,577,056,384 | 1,577,060,404 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,061 |
tass--2019-12-29--LPR fulfills all conditions for Dec 29 prisoners swap — envoy
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
LPR fulfills all conditions for Dec 29 prisoners swap — envoy
|
LUGANSK, December 28. /TASS/. The authorities of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) have fulfilled all conditions for the prisoners swap between Ukraine and Donbass planned for December 29, the republic’s envoy to the humanitarian subgroup of the Contact Group for the settlement in Ukraine, head of the LPR’s group on prisoners swap Olga Kobtseva said on Saturday. "Following the results of verification of detained persons on December 27 and 28, almost all people requested by our side, whose location has been identified, have confirmed their consent to be swapped," she was quoted as saying by the LuganskInformCenter news agency. "We deeply hope that the Ukrainian side will fulfill the commitments announced within the framework of the Normandy meeting, and a full-fledged exchange under the ‘all identified for all identified’ formula will be held tomorrow," she said, adding that "all required conditions have been fulfilled from LPR’s side." The prisoner exchange is expected near the Gorlovka-Mayorskoye point of entry/exit on the line of contact between the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Ukraine early on Sunday. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed Kiev’s readiness earlier on Saturday. According to DPR’s Commissioner for Human Rights Darya Morozova, Donetsk and Lugansk will hand over 55 people to Kiev and expect to receive 87 people.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104563
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 00:46:57 +0300
| 1,577,598,417 | 1,577,578,926 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,093 |
tass--2019-12-30--Among prisoners returned to Kiev are 12 servicemen and 64 civilians — SBU
| 2019-12-30T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Among prisoners returned to Kiev are 12 servicemen and 64 civilians — SBU
|
KIEV, December 29. /TASS/. Among prisoners who were returned to Kiev by Donbass are 12 servicemen and 64 civilians, the press service of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on Sunday. "As a result of the exchange, 12 servicemen returned home, three of which were held captive on the territory of separate parts of Donestk and Lugansk regions since 2015, and 64 civilians, 17 of which were held captive since 2015 and 2016," the press service said. On December 29, Kiev and Donbass exchanged prisoners near the Gorlovka — Mayorskoye checkpoint. According to preliminary reports, Kiev handed over 124 people to Donbass, while Donbass handed over 76 people to Kiev.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104747
|
Mon, 30 Dec 2019 01:03:24 +0300
| 1,577,685,804 | 1,577,665,497 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
719,531 |
theguardianuk--2019-12-29--Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists exchange 200 prisoners
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists exchange 200 prisoners
|
Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists in the war-torn east of Ukraine have exchanged 200 prisoners, swapping detained fighters for civilians and service personnel held captive in some cases for years. The exchange provoked outrage in government-held Ukraine after Kyiv handed over to separatists five riot police suspected of killing protesters during a pro-western uprising in 2014 as part of the swap. “The mutual release of the detainees has ended,” the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement on Facebook, specifying that Kyiv received 76 captives. Separatist officials said the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk received 124. Stanyslav Aseyev and Oleg Galazyuk, journalists who contributed to the Ukrainian service of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, were also freed by rebels. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, hailed the swap as “positive” in a joint statement. The exchange came after Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, held their first face-to-face talks in Paris on 9 December and agreed measures to de-escalate Europe’s only active war. Prisoners filed off coaches at the Mayorske checkpoint in the eastern Donetsk region, many carrying plastic bags stuffed with their belongings, as uniformed soldiers and ambulances were on standby. Among the group of detainees handed over by the separatists were those who said they had been held for several years after getting caught up in the conflict while visiting relatives. Volodymyr Danylchenko, who said he had spent three years in captivity, said he was at a loss for words. “I myself don’t understand what’s happened,” said the 36-year-old, adding that he was leaving his mother behind in Lugansk. Another detainee released by the separatists, who gave her name as Victoria, said she had been held for three years. “I am so happy,” the 24-year-old said. She said she had been convicted of “state treason” and sentenced to 12 years in prison after arriving in the Lugansk region to see her parents. Another woman being handed to Kyiv sported a handwritten sign on her clothing: “My country is Ukraine!” The December summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, mediated by France and Germany, was the first of its kind in three years. The latest swap comes three months after Ukraine carried out a long-awaited exchange with Russia of 35 prisoners each. In 2017 more than 230 separatists were swapped for more than 70 of their counterparts. Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after the 2014 uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime. Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine, who had launched a bid for independence. Since then more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The release of the riot police has raised concerns in Ukraine, with many fearing the country is being pushed to pay too high a price for the swap. The officers are suspected to have been involved in a crackdown on protesters in 2014. About 100 demonstrators were shot dead during the uprising. Before the swap, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said the trial of the five suspects would continue, and the defendants would still have to appear in court. Three former riot police officers had earlier been released from custody while another two had been freed from house arrest. About 200 people protesting against the release of the officers gathered near the detention centre in Kyiv where the three suspects were held. “This country has no future,” Volodymyr Golodnyuk, the father of a 19-year protester who was killed in the uprising, wrote on Facebook. In an open letter to Zelenskiy, victims’ families warned that the release of the suspects could lead to a “wave of protests”. Since coming to power in May, the former comedian has sought to kickstart a peace process to end the conflict.
|
Agence France-Presse in Mayorske
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/29/ukraine-begins-prisoner-exchange-with-russia-backed-separatists
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:50:46 GMT
| 1,577,641,846 | 1,577,665,634 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
809,616 |
themoscowtimes--2019-06-27--Pro-Russian Rebels Agree to Release 4 Ukrainian Prisoners
| 2019-06-27T00:00:00 |
themoscowtimes
|
Pro-Russian Rebels Agree to Release 4 Ukrainian Prisoners
|
Rebels in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics have for the past five years been at war with government forces in eastern Ukraine. Prisoner exchanges are stipulated in an internationally brokered ceasefire agreement that has regularly been violated since entering into force in early 2015. Two pro-Russian separatist republics in eastern Ukraine have agreed to release four Ukrainian prisoners as a “goodwill gesture” later this week, news agencies reported Thursday. Donetsk and Luhansk have agreed to release the four Ukrainian captives, three of them soldiers, on Friday, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The head of Donetsk said he hoped the move would “stimulate” an all-for-all exchange. The head of Luhansk said the time and place of the release will be announced Friday. The latest release was reportedly negotiated by Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent Ukrainian politician with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In 2017, Medvedchuk had urged Putin to press the separatist leaders to agree to a prisoner swap. Later on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Putin to release the 24 Ukrainian sailors who were captured in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, late last year.
| null |
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/06/27/pro-russian-rebels-agree-to-release-4-ukrainian-prisoners-after-talks-a66189
|
2019-06-27 14:36:00+00:00
| 1,561,660,560 | 1,567,537,929 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
811,014 |
themoscowtimes--2019-12-10--Putin and Zelenskiy, in First Talks, Agree to Exchange Prisoners
| 2019-12-10T00:00:00 |
themoscowtimes
|
Putin and Zelenskiy, in First Talks, Agree to Exchange Prisoners
|
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in their first face-to-face meeting, took part in nine hours of talks in Paris, brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to exchange all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine by the end of the year, but left thorny questions about the region's status for future talks. The conflict in eastern Ukraine that broke out in 2014 has killed more than 13,000 people, left a large swathe of Ukraine de facto controlled by Moscow-backed separatists and aggravated the deepest east-west rift since the Cold War. The body language between Putin and Zelenskiy, a comedian-turned-politician elected earlier this year on a promise to resolve the conflict, was chilly. There was no public handshake, and they avoided eye contact. But the talks did deliver specific commitments. A final communique set out the prisoner exchange and a renewed commitment to implement an existing ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region that has never fully taken hold as well as enhanced powers for international ceasefire monitors. The sides also said they had agreed, over the next four months, to work towards local elections in Donbass, a major stumbling block up to now. There were no details though on how the votes would be conducted, and Macron acknowledged there were still disagreements on the subject. "We have made progress on disengagement, prisoner exchanges, ceasefire and a political evolution," Macron said at a news conference at which Zelenskiy and Putin sat separated by Merkel and Macron. "We have asked our ministers in the coming four months to work on this." In addition, Zelenskiy said he and Putin had worked out the outline of an agreement that would allow the transit of Russian natural gas to continue across Ukrainian soil. He gave no details. A member of the Russian delegation said officials had been instructed to hammer out details. However, there was no definitive agreement on the political issues that stand in the way of resolving the conflict. These include the status of Donbass within Ukraine and who should de facto control the border between Donbass and Russia. Another round of talks in the so-called Normandy format, brokered by France and Germany, will be held within four months. Ukraine's industrial Donbass region spun out of Kiev's control in 2014, soon after street protests ousted a pro-Moscow leader in the Ukrainian capital and Russia sent in armed men to seize Ukraine's Black Sea Crimea region. A 2015 ceasefire deal was signed in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. But fighting still flares up in Donbass four years on, and a peace deal has been elusive. Monday's summit was the first time the four leaders have met under the Normandy format since 2016. Many Ukrainians are concerned about compromising with Russia. They see Putin as an aggressor seeking to restore the Kremlin's influence on the former Soviet republic and ruin Ukraine's aspiration for closer European ties. Protesters who have warned Zelenskiy about making concessions to Putin in Paris were camped outside the presidential administration in Kiev, watching the summit news conference on a big screen. Zelenskiy, who sparred verbally with Russian journalists at the news conference, said he had given no ground on Ukraine's sovereignty or territorial integrity. He said he and Putin had disagreed on several issues. Asked who triumphed in their exchanges, Zelenskiy said: "I don't know who (beat) who. I think it would be appropriate to be diplomatic as we've just started talking. Let's say for now it's a draw." Putin, for his part, is unwilling to be seen to bend to outside pressure over eastern Ukraine, and he does not want to be seen to be leaving the Russian-speaking population of Donbass at the mercy of the Kiev government. He expressed only cautious hope for the peace talks. "All this gives us the grounds to suppose that the process is developing in the right direction," he said. Sticking to his cool tone, when he ended his remarks to journalists in Paris, Putin thanked Merkel and Macron warmly but offered no pleasantries to Zelenskiy.
| null |
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/12/10/putin-and-zelenskiy-in-first-talks-agree-to-exchange-prisoners-a68533
|
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 07:30:23 +0100
| 1,575,981,023 | 1,575,981,347 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,015,009 |
thetelegraph--2019-09-07--Russia and Ukraine swapping prisoners in landmark exchange
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
thetelegraph
|
Russia and Ukraine swapping prisoners in landmark exchange
|
A long-awaited swap of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine was underway on Saturday, sources and state media said, with 70 people involved in the landmark exchange. A Ukrainian government source told AFP the swap was proceeding and that 35 people on each side would be exchanged. A number of high-profile prisoners are expected to be part of the exchange. Earlier Saturday an AFP journalist in Moscow saw two buses with tinted windows leaving the high-security Lefortovo jail escorted by a police convoy. Russia's state-run news channel Rossiya 24 said the convoy had departed "within the framework of preparations for a prisoner exchange".
|
Our Foreign Staff
|
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/07/russia-ukraine-swapping-prisoners-landmark-exchange/
|
2019-09-07 09:37:41+00:00
| 1,567,863,461 | 1,569,330,895 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,031,729 |
thetorontostar--2019-12-29--Ukraine, eastern rebels swap prisoners in move to end war
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
thetorontostar
|
Ukraine, eastern rebels swap prisoners in move to end war
|
MAIORSK CHECKPOINT, Ukraine - Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine began exchanging prisoners Sunday in a move aimed at ending their 5-year-long war. The move was part of an agreement brokered earlier this month at a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France. A rebel government official and the Ukrainian president’s office confirmed that the swap has started. In total, 142 prisoners were expected to be exchanged at a checkpoint near Horlivka in eastern Ukraine — 55 released by the rebels and 87 by Ukraine. The last major prisoner swap between separatist rebels and Ukrainian forces took place in December 2017, with 233 rebels exchanged for 73 Ukrainians. The fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014 has killed more than 14,000 people. Get more of the Star in your inbox Never miss the latest news from the Star. Sign up for our newsletters to get today's top stories, your favourite columnists and lots more in your inbox Sign Up Now
|
Evgeniy Maloletka - The Associated Press
|
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/europe/2019/12/29/ukraine-rebels-exchange-prisoners.html
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 06:55:10 EST
| 1,577,620,510 | 1,577,620,943 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,064,061 |
unian--2019-08-27--Moscow Kyiv may swap prisoners this week lawyer
| 2019-08-27T00:00:00 |
unian
|
Moscow, Kyiv may swap prisoners this week – lawyer
|
There is still no final decision on how many people will be on the lists from both sides. Lawyer of certain Russians held in Ukraine Valentyn Rybin says the Russian and Ukrainian sides on Tuesday will resume preparations for the prisoner swap to carry it out before the end of the week. Read alsoZelensky: First results on prisoner swap should be in coming days "I expect the swap will take place this week. I can't tell the exact date yet. The fact is that there has been days off in Ukraine since August 24. Active work will resume from Tuesday and we'll see the progress on this issue. One way or another, everything should happen soon," he told the Russian newspaper Izvestia on August 27. According to the lawyer, now the sides are solving the issue of lifting all charges from people declared for the swap. This refers not only to the issue of "political will," but also to legal nuances. The journalists' sources familiar with the situation say the information pause in coordinating swap lists is due to the "sensitivity of the issue." According to them, the case is at its final stage. However, it's too early to announce the final date so as not to "interfere with the resolution of the issue." At the same time, there is still no final decision on how many people will be on the lists from both sides. One of the journalists' sources said "the 33 to 33 formula spread in the media is conditional since there is still no clarity on some persons." Lawyers of former chief editor of RIA Novosti Ukraine Kirill Vyshinsky told Izvestia his client was not going to participate in the swap since he was determined to defend his innocence in a Ukrainian court. Moreover, there is no clarity about the exchange of 22 Ukrainian sailors and two SBU officers captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait in November 2018. Speaking to journalists, their lawyer Nikolay Polozov refrained from making statements, adding that "certain processes are underway, but we are not commenting on them yet." According to other sources, a final decision on their participation in the swap has not yet been made. The Kremlin earlier confirmed Russia was in contact with Ukraine on the issue of the prisoner swap. Ukraine and the Russian Federation have reached a preliminary agreement on the exchange of held persons under the 33-for-33 formula, according to sources from the Russian news agency RBC.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/politics/10663479-moscow-kyiv-may-swap-prisoners-this-week-lawyer.html
|
2019-08-27 07:43:00+00:00
| 1,566,906,180 | 1,567,543,680 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,064,164 |
unian--2019-08-30--No official meeting of Ukrainian prisoners planned in airport media
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
unian
|
No official meeting of Ukrainian prisoners planned in airport – media
|
They are set to be immediately taken to the hospital, according to a non-confirmed report. There will be no official meeting of Ukrainian POW sailors and political prisoners, released from Russia, at the Kyiv airport. They are supposed to be taken to the hospital immediately upon arrival, Krym.Realii reports with reference to a source in the Command of the Armed forces of Ukraine. Relatives of POW sailors, on condition of anonymity, also said no meeting was scheduled in the airport. Read alsoProcess of prisoner swap with Russia not yet completed – President's Office No confirmation of these reports came from official and independent sources. During previous stages of prisoner swap, released persons underwent treatment at the Scientific and Practical Center for Preventive and Clinical Medicine of the State Administration of Ukraine. As UNIAN reported earlier, the newly elected Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Riaboshapka said that the exchange of prisoners with Russia took place and Ukrainian political prisoners, including Sentsov, Balukh, and Hryb, were returning to Ukraine. Relatives of prisoners of war were allegedly informed that they had already arrived in Ukraine. At the same time, the Office of the President's Office refuted the reports on the completion of swap, adding that the process was ongoing and the official reports would follow once it is completed.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/politics/10667598-no-official-meeting-of-ukrainian-prisoners-planned-in-airport-media.html
|
2019-08-30 07:15:00+00:00
| 1,567,163,700 | 1,569,417,003 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,064,403 |
unian--2019-09-09--Putins spokesperson refuses to disclose names of those swapped for Ukrainian sailors prisoners
| 2019-09-09T00:00:00 |
unian
|
Putin's spokesperson refuses to disclose names of those swapped for Ukrainian sailors, prisoners
|
Peskov said he would not comment on the prisoner swap list. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has refused to disclose the names of those individuals whom Ukraine transferred to Russia on September 7 in exchange for captive Ukrainian sailors and political prisoners. When Peskov was told that he himself had promised to announce the complete prisoner swap list, the Kremlin representative said: "I'd leave this question unanswered, I do not comment on it at all," the Meduza news outlet reported. As UNIAN reported earlier, Peskov did not comment whether the Ukrainians who were transferred to Moscow as part of the prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine could be granted Russian citizenship. In particular, Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Tsemakh, who is suspected of involvement in the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, was reportedly put on the prisoner exchange list at the Kremlin's request. Asked to explain why Putin had not met at the airport those detainees who were exchanged for the Ukrainian sailors and political prisoners, the Kremlin's spokesman said it was "not the prerogative of the president of the Russian Federation." "The head of state had come his part of the path so that this exchange took place. And unlike arrival at the airport or not – this is the main thing," he said.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/politics/10679211-putin-s-spokesperson-refuses-to-disclose-names-of-those-swapped-for-ukrainian-sailors-prisoners.html
|
2019-09-09 19:30:00+00:00
| 1,568,071,800 | 1,569,330,734 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,066,858 |
unian--2019-12-29--Prisoner swap: Twenty prisoners refuse to return to occupied Donbas
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
unian
|
Prisoner swap: Twenty prisoners refuse to return to occupied Donbas
|
The exact number of prisoners to be exchanged has not yet been specified. So-called "ombudsperson" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") Daria Morozova says about 20 prisoners held in Ukrainian prisons have refused to return to the temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (eastern Ukraine) and wished to remain in the territory controlled by Kyiv. "We are ready to hand over 55 people to the Ukrainian side, while they [are ready to return] 87 persons. However, the exact figures have not yet been determined," she said, adding that 20 people have refused to return to the territory that is beyond Ukraine's control, according to Russian media. As UNIAN reported earlier, the prisoner swap of held persons between Ukraine government and representatives of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics" ("DPR"/"LPR") began at the Mayorsk checkpoint at 11:00 Kyiv time on Sunday, according to the Ukrainian President's Office. The exact number of prisoners to be exchanged has not yet been specified. Earlier, participants in the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement agreed on the mutual release of held persons to be held before the end of the year. According to Russian media, the "big swap" is scheduled for December 29.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/society/10814027-prisoner-swap-twenty-prisoners-refuse-to-return-to-occupied-donbas.html
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 14:40:00 +0200
| 1,577,648,400 | 1,577,665,969 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,069,276 |
upi--2019-12-29--Ukrainian government, Russian-backed separatists exchange 200 prisoners
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
upi
|
Ukrainian government, Russian-backed separatists exchange 200 prisoners
|
Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Ukraine's government and Russian-backed separatists swapped 200 prisoners Sunday in an effort to end a standoff in the Donbas region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office confirmed on Twitter that 76 prisoners held by separatists had been returned to the government and representatives for the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine said the government returned 124 separatist prisoners. The prisoner exchange Sunday made good on promises in peace talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris at the beginning of December. Nine people elected not to return to the separatists in Luhansk and four refused to return to the government in Kyiv. The exchange took place at a checkpoint in east Ukraine, where violent conflicts following the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths. Among those freed in the exchange were soldiers, activists, alleged spies and riot police officers accused of shooting protesters during the 2014 revolution. The exchange was viewed as a victory for Zelensky, who was elected in April after campaigning to release Ukrainian prisoners and end the war. The U.S. embassy in Kyiv issued a statement on Twitter praising the exchange. "Recognizing that Russia's ongoing aggression confronts Ukraine's leadership with difficult choices, we stand in solidarity with our Ukrainian partners and the many Ukrainians who remain in captivity in Russia and Crimea," it said.
| null |
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/12/29/Ukrainian-government-Russian-backed-separatists-exchange-200-prisoners/4091577635236/
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:26:42 -0500
| 1,577,640,402 | 1,577,666,618 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
216,835 |
france24--2019-09-07--Film director Oleg Sentsov among 70 released in Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Film director Oleg Sentsov among 70 released in Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap
|
Gleb Garanich, REUTERS | Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, who was jailed on terrorism charges in Russia, gets off a plane in Kiev after Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap, at Borispil International Airport, outside Kiev, Ukraine September 7, 2019. Russia and Ukraine carried out a long-awaited swap of 70 prisoners on Saturday, in a deal hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “first step” towards ending their conflict. Planes carrying 35 prisoners from each side landed simultaneously in Moscow and Kiev, where relatives waiting at the airport broke into applause. “We have taken the first step,” Zelensky said on the tarmac after greeting and hugging former prisoners at the airport. "We have to take all the steps to finish this horrible war." Among those swapped were 24 Ukrainian sailors, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and Russian journalist Kyrylo Vyshynsky. Ukraine’s SBU security service confirmed that Vladimir Tsemakh, a fighter with Russian-backed separatists considered a key witness in the downing of flight MH17, was also released as part of the swap. Anticipation had been building for days for the exchange, which involved weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations. Relations between Kiev and Moscow nose-dived in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and Moscow backed separatists in the eastern industrial regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Fighting there has claimed more than 13,000 lives over the past five years. Zelensky’s election in April has raised hopes that the stalled peace process could be revived. The comedian-turned-politician vowed during his campaign to have Ukrainian prisoners in Russia returned and has said ending the conflict with Russia is his top priority. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that the exchange would be “a huge step towards normalising relations” with Kiev. The release of Sentsov will be seen as a major victory for Kiev. The 43-year-old was Ukraine’s most famous political prisoner and the subject of a star-studded international campaign calling for his release. He was arrested in 2014 and had been serving a 20-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony for planning ‘terrorist attacks’ in Crimea. “I thank all the people who have fought for us,” Sentsov said at the airport in Kiev. The sailors, including two members of Ukraine’s SBU security services, were detained last year when Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels off Crimea. Among those handed over to Russia was Vyshynsky, a journalist at Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency who was facing charges of “high treason” but was released on bail late last month. The release of Tsemakh, an alleged air defence specialist for pro-Russian separatists, prompted concern from the Netherlands as he is considered a person of interest in the MH17 case. The Malaysia Airlines passenger plane travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile in 2014 over eastern Ukraine, with the loss of all 298 people on board. France has pushed for a resolution to the conflict, calling for a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany later this month. French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for fresh efforts to implement the 2015 Minsk ceasefire deal, "in order to secure the liberation of all prisoners taken in this conflict." On Monday, Le Drian heads to the Russian capital along with France’s defence minister for the first high-level "2+2"talks with their Russian counterparts since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
|
NEWS WIRES
|
https://www.france24.com/en/20190907-russia-ukraine-swap-70-prisoners-landmark-exchange
|
2019-09-07 10:07:31+00:00
| 1,567,865,251 | 1,569,330,949 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
217,864 |
france24--2019-12-10--Russia and Ukraine leaders, in first talks, agree to prisoner swap
| 2019-12-10T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Russia and Ukraine leaders, in first talks, agree to prisoner swap
|
The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to exchange all remaining prisoners from the conflict in east Ukraine by the end of the year, but left thorny questions about the region's status for future talks. Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in their first face-to-face meeting, took part in nine hours of talks in Paris, brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The conflict in eastern Ukraine that broke out in 2014 has killed more than 13,000 people and aggravated the deepest east-west rift since the Cold War. Meeting for the first time since Zelenskiy, a comedian-turned-politician, was elected earlier this year on a promise to resolve the conflict, the body language between him and Putin was chilly. There was no public handshake, and they avoided eye contact. But the talks deliver specific commitments, with a final communique setting out the prisoner exchange, as well as a renewed commitment to implement an existing ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region that has never fully taken hold. In addition, Zelenskiy said he and Putin had worked out the outline of an agreement that would allow the transit of Russian natural gas to continue across Ukrainian soil. A member of the Russian delegation said officials had been instructed to hammer out details. "We have made progress on disengagement, prisoner exchanges, ceasefire and a political evolution," Macron said at a news conference at which Zelenskiy and Putin sat separated by Merkel and Macron. "We have asked our ministers in the coming four months to work on this... with a view to organising local elections in four months," he said, acknowledging there remained differences on the calendar. However, there was no definitive agreement on the political issues that stand in the way of resolving the conflict. These include the status of Donbass within Ukraine, who should de facto control the border between Donbass and Russia, and how local elections in the region should be conducted. Agreement was reached to hold another round of talks in the so-called Normandy format, brokered by France and Germany, within four months. There has been scant sign of a peaceful solution to the crisis despite a 2015 ceasefire deal in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Monday's summit is the first time the four leaders have met under the Normandy format since 2016. Many Ukrainians are concerned about compromising with Russia. They see Putin as an aggressor seeking to restore the Kremlin's influence on the former Soviet republic and ruin Ukraine's aspiration for closer European ties. Protesters who have warned Zelenskiy about making concessions to Putin in Paris were camped outside the presidential palace in Kiev, watching the final news conference on a big screen. Putin, too, is unwilling to be seen to bend to outside pressure over eastern Ukraine, and does not want to be seen to be leaving the Russian-speaking population of Donbass at the mercy of the government in Kiev.
|
NEWS WIRES
|
https://www.france24.com/en/20191210-russia-and-ukraine-leaders-in-first-talks-agree-to-exchange-prisoners
|
Tue, 10 Dec 2019 00:39:28 GMT
| 1,575,956,368 | 1,575,981,388 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
218,156 |
france24--2019-12-29--Ukraine begins prisoner swap with pro-Russian separatists
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Ukraine begins prisoner swap with pro-Russian separatists
|
Ukrainian prisoners are escorted by pro-Russian separatists near the Mayorsk crossing point in the Donetsk region on December 29, 2019. Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have started an all-for-all prisoner swap, after which all remaining prisoners of the five-year conflict should return home, the office of Ukraine's president said on Sunday. The agreement was concluded by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris in December. The swap is taking place at a check point near the industrial town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region. Russia's RIA news agency, citing a local official from the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, said Kiev would hand over 87 separatists, while Donetsk would return 55 pro-central government fighters. Kiev's forces have been battling separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement. There have been several prisoner exchanges between Kiev and the rebels. In the last swap, conducted in December 2017, Ukraine handed over about 300 captives to pro-Russian separatists and took back around 70. Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed following Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and its subsequent supporut for separatists in the eastern Donbass region. President Zelenskiy won a landslide election victory in April promising to end the conflict. Widely criticized domestically for his plan to grant special status to Donbass to help end the five-year conflict, Zelenskiy's latest actions have given rise to cautious optimism. In September, after a carefully negotiated rapprochement, Russia and Ukraine swapped dozens of prisoners. The move brought Western praise and hopes that relations between Moscow and Kiev could thaw. The released Ukrainians included sailors detained by Russia during a clash in waters off Crimea last year, and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia. The meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French leaders earlier this month in Paris renewed optimism for a resolution to the conflict, and confirmed the relevance of an early peace agreement signed in Belarusian capital Minsk in 2015. Relations between the two countries are also unlikely to be aggravated by a dispute in the gas sector, where Kiev and Moscow are arguing about a new transit contract to replace the current agreement which expires at the end of the year. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using natural gas supplies to put pressure on the neighbouring state, but last week the parties managed to agree on the main points of a new deal.
|
NEWS WIRES
|
https://www.france24.com/en/20191229-ukraine-begins-prisoner-swap-with-pro-russian-separatists
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 11:06:58 GMT
| 1,577,635,618 | 1,577,624,022 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
470,515 |
rferl--2019-08-30--Ukrainian President Denies Prisoner Swap With Russia Completed Says Negotiations Ongoing
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Ukrainian President Denies Prisoner Swap With Russia Completed, Says Negotiations Ongoing
|
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says that negotiations to exchange prisoners with Russia are continuing despite earlier unconfirmed reports that a swap had been completed. "The process of the mutual release of individuals held is in progress," the Ukrainian presidential office said in a post on its official Facebook page on August 30. "Information about its completion does not correspond to reality," it added. The post described reports to the contrary as "disinformation" and said that when a prisoner exchange is completed, "the president's office will announce it on official channels." The post came after relatives of one of the 24 sailors being held by Russia told RFE/RL's Crimean Desk that they all had been freed. That claim came after Ukraine's prosecutor-general reposted comments from a Ukrainian parliament member saying Ukraine and Russia had carried out a swap of prisoners, including Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian forces last year and Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov. Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told journalists in Moscow on August 30 that negotiations regarding a possible prisoner exchange are "taking place behind closed doors, but I can confirm that there is some progress," according to Interfax. Anticipation had been growing for such a swap after Russian media reported on August 29 that Sentsov -- whose imprisonment has been criticized by Kyiv, Western governments, and human rights groups -- had been moved from a remote prison in Russia’s Arctic region to a facility in Moscow. Sentsov has been imprisoned in Russia since opposing Moscow's takeover of his native Crimea in March 2014. On August 30, two Ukrainian opposition politicians said they had met with two imprisoned Ukrainian nationals in Russia. Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Opposition Platform-For Life and one of the two representatives from the party to travel to Moscow at the request of relatives of jailed Ukrainians, told the television channel 112 Ukraina that they had met with Stanislav Kykh and Mykoa Karpyuk and were seeking their release, which he said was a long-term effort. He noted that the issue of negotiating any exchange was up to government authorities. Kykh and Karpyuk are among five Ukrainians that the Moscow-based Memorial human rights center on August 20 said had been transferred from labor camps in several different regions to the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow. The Kommersant newspaper has cited sources close to Zelenskiy as saying that a broad prisoner exchange could take place by the end of August and that the Ukrainians set to be transferred to Kyiv could include at least some of the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces in November near the Kerch Strait close to Russia-annexed Crimea. Kyiv has said that Russia illegally holds about 150 Ukrainian nationals on its territory. Ukrainian officials mentioned that figure when talking about the list of prisoners prepared for possible exchange by the two countries' ombudswomen in July. The list of Russian citizens set for the swap has never been made public. Reports about Sentsov’s transfer to Moscow come a day after a court in Ukraine ordered jailed Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky to be freed on his own recognizance and released from custody before his trial on treason charges.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/report-ukrainian-sailors-released-in-prisoner-swap-with-russia/30137334.html
|
2019-08-30 05:04:19+00:00
| 1,567,155,859 | 1,569,416,977 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
470,622 |
rferl--2019-09-07--Russian-Ukrainian Prisoner Swap Said Under Way
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Russian-Ukrainian Prisoner Swap Said 'Under Way'
|
Multiple reports say that buses that arrived at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport after leaving Lefortovo prison were carrying individuals for a major prisoner swap with Ukraine. Russian state TV carried images of the buses traveling through Moscow with a police escort. A plane with Ukrainian government markings has also landed at Vnukovo. Nikolai Polozov, a lawyer who heads the defense team for 24 Ukrainian sailors captured last year by Russia near the Kerch Strait and presumed to be included in any eventual swap, said on Facebook, "Now we can say the process is under way." Neither government has announced the final conclusion of terms for a swap, which Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested earlier this week was on the brink of agreement. A prisoner exchange could help build trust and confidence between Moscow and Kyiv and possibly open the door to other negotiations as a five-year war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists grinds on in eastern Ukraine. AFP quoted Polozov as saying of the Ukrainian sailors that "according to my information, they were put on a bus. All 24 of them." He said he expected the sailors to arrive in Ukraine "in the next few hours." There is no word on the identities of other prisoners possibly involved in the exchange. Observers are waiting to see if any swap includes a number of other high-profile prisoners, which some reports have suggested could include around 70 individuals. Possible prisoners in Russia include Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who was convicted by a court on terrorism charges after Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, accusations that he and rights groups say are ridiculous. Reports have also speculated that an exchange could include Russian RIA Novosti journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, whom Ukraine freed on his own recognizance in late August pending treason charges. Another person included in speculation about possible handover to Russia is Ukrainian national Volodymyr Tsemakh, a "person of interest" to investigators into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which killed 298 people in 2014. Tsemakh reportedly commanded a separatist air-defense unit at the time of the MH17 disaster, and 40 members of the European Parliament this week had urged Ukraine not to include him in any exchange. The letter said Tsemakh was a “key suspect” in the shooting down of MH17. In Kyiv, relatives of some Ukrainians being held in Russia came to the office of the parliamentary representative for human rights, Lyudmila Denisova, early on September 7, according to the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL Ukrainian Service. The sailors have been held in Moscow since their capture, along with their ship, after Russian Coast Guard forces fired on them as they tried to sail through the Kerch Strait that connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. Russia took effective control of the strait after its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, threatening to block off Ukrainian ports from access to the Black Sea. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in May ordered Russia to release the sailors.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-exchange-prisoners/30151327.html
|
2019-09-07 07:28:04+00:00
| 1,567,855,684 | 1,569,330,933 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
470,630 |
rferl--2019-09-08--Putin Macron Say Ukraine-Russia Prisoner Swap Gives Momentum For Peace Talks
| 2019-09-08T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Putin, Macron Say Ukraine-Russia Prisoner Swap Gives Momentum For Peace Talks
|
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin say a prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow has given momentum to talks on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The two leaders spoke by phone on September 8, the offices of both presidents said, touching on a broad range of security topics, including Iran, a day before a meeting of the Franco-Russian Council in Moscow. Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 70 prisoners on September 7 in a move praised by the West as an opportunity to improve tense relations between Kyiv and Moscow. "The two presidents confirmed that the current momentum will allow for the holding, in the next few weeks, of a summit under the Normandy format in Paris," the French presidency said in a statement. The Kremlin added: "The sides discussed prospects for the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict and stressed that the Minsk Package of Measures has no alternatives as a basis for the conflict settlement. They reiterated mutual commitment to continue constructive joint work within the Normandy format." More than 13,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine after Russia-backed separatists took up arms against government forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April 2014. After being elected in April this year, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for a four-way meeting with fellow Normandy format participants Russia, Germany, and France to revive peace talks with Putin. The exchange is the first major prisoner swap between the two countries since 2017. Macron and Putin also discussed Iran and keeping in place a 2015 deal that gave Iran access to world trade, including the sale of oil, in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and world powers including China, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia has been unravelling since the United States abandoned the accord last year. "The sides discussed in detail the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program. Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron spoke for consolidation of efforts of all the parties concerned to save the JCPOA and observe it in full. They also exchanged information about Russia’s and France’s steps on that track," the Kremlin said. Tehran has insisted for years that, despite Western accusations and indications of previous covert military aims, its nuclear ambitions are merely civilian. Iranian President Hassan Rohani warned earlier this week that Tehran is on the verge of taking steps away from the 2015 accord that "will have extraordinary effects." In response, European powers called on Iran to avoid any action that contravenes its commitments to the deal.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-macron-ukraine-russia-prisoner-swap/30153209.html
|
2019-09-08 19:44:13+00:00
| 1,567,986,253 | 1,569,330,820 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
471,488 |
rferl--2019-11-15--Touted Afghan Prisoner Swap Fails To Happen, But It's Unclear Why
| 2019-11-15T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Touted Afghan Prisoner Swap Fails To Happen, But It's Unclear Why
|
The fate of a deal to exchange three Taliban prisoners held in Afghanistan for two Western hostages the militant group is holding remained unclear, three days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced the plan. The deal was seen by the Afghan government as a key move in securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has so far refused to engage with what it calls a "puppet" regime in Kabul. But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on November 15 that the three Taliban prisoners to be freed did not show up at an exchange site that had been agreed upon and were still in custody. They were to be exchanged for two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who were abducted in August 2016: U.S. citizen Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks. Mujahid said the Taliban was still holding King, 60, and Weeks, 48. The reasons for the delay were not clear. Speaking on November 14 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Afghan first lady Rula Ghani said: "It didn’t work.” “I'm not quite sure why, but probably some party did not do what they promised they were going to do. And so unfortunately, the two professors might not be released," she added. Reuters quoted an Afghan government official as saying the swap had been postponed, without elaborating. The agency also cited Taliban sources as saying the three Taliban prisoners were due to be flown to Qatar but were returned to the jail in Bagram, outside Kabul. They “will be sent to Qatar under U.S. supervision,” an unnamed Afghan official told RFE/RL. The three Taliban prisoners to be released included Anas Haqqani -- the younger brother of Sirajjuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network – and two other prominent militants: Hafiz Rashid Omari and Haji Milli Khan, officials said. The U.S. ambassador to Kabul, John Bass, initially welcomed Ghani's announcement, but officials have given no further information since. The Haqqani network, known for carrying out brutal attacks in Afghanistan, is part of the Taliban group. It is believed to be based in Pakistan. With reporting by AP, Reuters, dpa, and AFP
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/touted-afghan-prisoner-swap-fails-to-happen-but-it-s-unclear-why/30274336.html
|
Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:28:48 +0000
| 1,573,856,928 | 1,573,864,940 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
471,496 |
rferl--2019-11-17--Afghanistan Blames Taliban For Delay In High-Profile Prisoner Swap
| 2019-11-17T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Afghanistan Blames Taliban For Delay In High-Profile Prisoner Swap
|
Kabul has blamed the Taliban for a delay in the exchange of three extremist prisoners held in Afghanistan for two Western hostages that the militant group has been holding. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office on November 16 said the Taliban prisoners "are still being held by the Afghan government." "The inability of the Taliban to meet the conditions has delayed the exchange process," spokesman Sediq Sediqqi wrote on Twitter, adding that the Afghan government will review the situation and make decisions based "on the country's best interests." The Western-backed Afghan government did not immediately give specifics on what conditions it believes the Taliban had not met. Ghani had announced the deal on November 12, saying the Taliban prisoners held at Bagram prison would be "conditionally" released. The deal was seen by the Afghan government as a key move in securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has so far refused to engage with what it calls a "puppet" regime in Kabul. The United States has been holding a series of negotiations with Taliban representatives in Qatar over recent years in an attempt to end the 18-year war. But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on November 15 said the Taliban prisoners to be freed did not show up at an exchange site that had been agreed upon and were still in custody. Mujahid on November 15 told VOA the deal had been suspended and that it was up to U.S. officials to explain what happened. "As per the deal with the Americans, our prisoners were to be taken to the mutually agreed safe location and freed there. We would have then released and handed the American [and his colleague] over to them," Mujahid said in a Pashto-language audio message sent to VOA. The United States did not immediately comment. The Taliban prisoners were to be swapped for two professors of the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who had been abducted by gunmen wearing military uniforms in August 2016, U.S. citizen Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks. Mujahid said the Taliban was still holding King, 60, and Weeks, 48. The Taliban prisoners to be released were Anas Haqqani -- the younger brother of Sirajjuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani network -- and two other prominent militants, Hafiz Rashid Omari and Haji Milli Khan, officials said. The Haqqani network, known for carrying out brutal attacks in Afghanistan, is part of the Taliban group and is believed to be based in Pakistan. With reporting by VOA, AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-taliban-prisoner-swap-haqqani-delayed/30276137.html
|
Sun, 17 Nov 2019 04:40:53 +0000
| 1,573,983,653 | 1,574,106,084 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
471,846 |
rferl--2019-12-09--Ukraine, Russia Agree On Full Cease-Fire, 'All For All' Prisoner Swap By End Of 2019
| 2019-12-09T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Ukraine, Russia Agree On Full Cease-Fire, 'All For All' Prisoner Swap By End Of 2019
|
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on December 9 agreed to “commit to a full and comprehensive implementation” of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine by the end of 2019, a joint communique says. Following more than eight hours of talks between the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia in Paris designed to revive a road map for achieving peace in the Donbas war between Ukrainian and Kremlin-backed forces, the sides agreed to aim for an “an all for all” prisoner exchange by the end of the year. "The sides commit to a full and comprehensive implementation of the ceasefire, strengthened by the implementation of all necessary ceasefire support measures, before the end of the year 2019," the communique said. Three additional “disengagement areas” will be sought with the “aim of disengaging forces and equipment by the end of March 2020," the document reads. Before the talks in Paris, Ukrainian and Moscow-backed military forces had earlier withdrawn from three flash points along the front line in eastern Ukraine where a war is in its sixth year and which has killed more than 13,000 people. “Yes, we can speak of a thaw in relations,” Putin said at a news conference after the talks. Speaking at the same news conference after midnight local time, Zelesnkiy said “it was good to unblock dialogue.” He added that the issue of gas transit had also been “unblocked” regarding Ukraine’s 10-year contract with Russia that expires at the end of the year. However, Putin and Zelenskiy, who met for the first time face-to-face, had failed to resolve crucial issues such as a timeline for local elections in eastern Ukraine and the borders in the region that Kyiv doesn’t control. Efforts would revive to remove mines in the war zone, the communique stated. German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the need to expand the mandate for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The communique reinforced the OSCE’s right to have “access throughout Ukraine” while Merkel promoted the idea of having the group’s monitors observe “24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Within 30 days, support should be given to have additional “new crossing points” for civilians along the front line, the document reads. Additionally, leaders of the four countries agreed to meet in the same format “within four months" to discuss "political and security conditions" concerning the conduct of local elections in eastern Ukraine. Still, Zelenskiy said he regretted that very little had been achieved during talks to end the Donbas conflict. "Many questions were tackled, and my counterparts have said it is a very good result for a first meeting. But I will be honest -- it is very little, I wanted to resolve a larger number of problems," he said. The last time the leaders of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met to discuss the conflict was in October 2016.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-agree-on-full-cease-fire-all-for-all-prisoner-swap-by-end-of-2019/30316624.html
|
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 23:49:06 +0000
| 1,575,953,346 | 1,575,938,109 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
472,080 |
rferl--2019-12-23--OSCE Says Ukraine Prisoner Swap Agreed 'By End Of Year'
| 2019-12-23T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
OSCE Says Ukraine Prisoner Swap Agreed 'By End Of Year'
|
Special OSCE representative in Ukraine Martin Sajdik has announced that a trilateral forum on the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine has "reached an agreement on a mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees by the end of the year." It would be the second major prisoner exchange in four months in the five-year-old conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donbas region. Sajdik said in a statement on the OSCE website on December 23 that the breakthrough came during a video conference of the so-called Trilateral Contact Group -- comprising Russian, Ukrainian, and OSCE representatives -- with the participation of separatist groups that hold swaths of territory in Donetsk and Luhansk. TASS had quoted Russia's envoy to the group, Boris Gryzlov, as saying earlier on December 23 that the deal had been done between Kyiv and the Donetsk and Luhansk groups, with Russian and OSCE mediation. But he provided no details. Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of arming and aiding the separatists, but Moscow insists it is not a party to the conflict, which followed shortly after Russia occupied then annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. On September 7, Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 70 prisoners in a move praised by the West as an opportunity to improve tense relations between Kyiv and Moscow. It was the first such exchange in two years. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then told reporters on October 4 that "certain work is being done in [the] direction" of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine. Leaders of the so-called Normandy Four -- France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia -- emerged from extensive peace talks in Paris on December 9 saying they had agreed to aim for an "an all-for-all" prisoner exchange by the end of the year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the time that the prisoner swap would take place on December 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy also reportedly agreed on December 9 to "commit to a full and comprehensive implementation" of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine by the end of December. The war in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/osce-says-ukraine-russia-prisoner-swap-agreed-by-end-of-year-/30340704.html
|
Mon, 23 Dec 2019 16:37:35 +0000
| 1,577,137,055 | 1,577,147,963 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
472,162 |
rferl--2019-12-28--Zelenskiy Says Ukrainian Prisoner Swap 'Supposed To' Happen On December 29
| 2019-12-28T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Zelenskiy Says Ukrainian Prisoner Swap 'Supposed To' Happen On December 29
|
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that while a prisoner swap is "supposed to" take place on December 29, the list of individuals to be handed over between central Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists has not been finalized. The notion of an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange gained momentum during peace talks in Paris on December 9 among the so-called Normandy Four -- Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany -- trying to bring an end to the five-year conflict. "There is supposed to be an exchange [of prisoners] tomorrow," Zelenskiy told journalists during a visit to Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk region for a bridge opening on December 28, according to his official website. "We look forward to this. The verification of all people is not completed yet,” Zelenskiy added. He went on to call it the year's most difficult task. The UNIAN news agency quoted a representative of Donetsk separatists as saying that Kyiv was expected to release 87 people and the separatists 55. But there was no official confirmation of any figures. There are no definitive, publicly available lists of the prisoners that each side is holding. This would be the second major prisoner exchange involving Ukrainians caught up in the conflict in four months. In the last one, Russia and Ukraine traded a total of 70 prisoners in a move that many regarded as progress in efforts to deescalate a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since Moscow forcibly annexed Crimea and Russia-backed gunmen grabbed swaths of eastern Ukraine, including parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in 2014. Russia insists it is not a party to the conflict, despite significant evidence that includes communication with separatist leaders, captured Russians, and Russian casualties in the fighting. A special representative in Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that has monitors in eastern Ukraine and has mediated talks among the parties announced on December 23 that negotiators had "reached an agreement on a mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees by the end of the year." Zelenskiy won the presidency as a political outsider in April pledging to seek an end to the conflict -- which Kyiv and the West blame squarely on Russia -- and clean up rampant corruption for post-Soviet Ukraine's 42 million citizens. With reporting by AP and UNIAN
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskiy-says-ukrainian-prisoner-swap-supposed-to-happen-on-december-29/30349179.html
|
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 15:38:06 +0000
| 1,577,565,486 | 1,577,580,815 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
472,175 |
rferl--2019-12-29--Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Begin Prisoner Swap
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Begin Prisoner Swap
|
KYIV -- Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have started a prisoner swap, the office of Ukraine's president said on December 29. "At the Mayorske checkpoint the process of releasing detained persons has begun," the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian president said, while posting several photos of buses, ambulances, and armed soldiers. "The swap has started,” Darya Morozova, the so-called ombudsman of a Russia-backed separatist group that calls itself the Donetsk People's Republic was quoted as saying earlier by Russian news agencies. The Ukrainian side is expected to hand over 87 people, while the separatists are set to swap 55, the UNIAN news agency quoted a representative of the separatist group as saying. If completed, it would be the second major prisoner exchange involving Ukrainians caught up in the conflict in four months. The exchange is expected to take place near the village of Horlivka near Mayorske, some 35 kilometers north of Donetsk, media reports say. The notion of an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange gained momentum during peace talks in Paris on December 9 among the so-called Normandy Four -- Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany -- trying to bring an end to the five-year conflict. In the last one, Russia and Ukraine traded a total of 70 prisoners in a move that many regarded as progress in efforts to deescalate a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since Moscow forcibly annexed Crimea and Russia-backed gunmen grabbed swaths of eastern Ukraine including parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014. Russia insists it is not a party to the conflict, despite significant evidence that includes communication with separatist leaders, captured Russians, and Russian casualties in the fighting. The move is not without controversy in Kyiv. According to AFP, the government is expected to hand over to the separatists several riot police officers suspected of killing protesters during a pro-Western uprising in 2014. Families of the victims of the riot police wrote on Facebook in an open letter to Zelenskiy, warning that the release of the men could lead to a "wave of protests." "We would like to inform you that these people are neither participants nor victims of the conflict in eastern Ukraine," they wrote. The conflict in the region known as the Donbas is one of the biggest challenges facing Zelenskiy, who campaigned on a vow to end the conflict. He was inaugurated on May 20. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for its support of the separatists in eastern Ukraine and for the seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. With reporting by Reuters, AFP and Interfax
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-separatists-prisoner-swap-zelenskiy-mocsow/30349771.html
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 04:23:03 +0000
| 1,577,611,383 | 1,577,623,975 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
510,244 |
sottnet--2019-12-24--Ukraine - Donetsk & Luhansk prisoner swap to be agreed by 'end of the year' - OSCE
| 2019-12-24T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Ukraine - Donetsk & Luhansk prisoner swap to be agreed by 'end of the year' - OSCE
|
Special OSCE representative in Ukraine Martin Sajdik has announced that a trilateral forum on the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine has "reached an agreement on a mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees by the end of the year."between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donbas region.Sajdik said in a statement on the OSCE website on December 23 thatTASS had quoted Russia's envoy to the group, Boris Gryzlov, as saying earlier on December 23 that the deal had been done between Kyiv and the Donetsk and Luhansk groups, with Russian and OSCE mediation. But he provided no details.Kyiv and the West accuse Russia of arming and aiding the separatists, but Moscow insists it is not a party to the conflict, which followed shortly after Russia occupied then annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then told reporters on October 4 that "certain work is being done in [the] direction" of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine.Leaders of the so-called Normandy Four -- France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia -- emerged from extensive peace talks in Paris on December 9 saying they had agreed to aim for an "an all-for-all" prisoner exchange by the end of the year.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the time that the prisoner swap would take place on December 24.Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy also reportedly agreed on December 9 to "commit to a full and comprehensive implementation" of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine by the end of December.The war in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/426218-Ukraine-Donetsk-Luhansk-prisoner-swap-to-be-agreed-by-end-of-the-year-OSCE
|
Tue, 24 Dec 2019 14:36:44 +0000
| 1,577,216,204 | 1,577,234,509 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
510,469 |
sottnet--2019-12-28--Zelensky says prisoner swap supposed to happen tomorrow, Dec. 29
| 2019-12-28T00:00:00 |
sottnet
|
Zelensky says prisoner swap supposed to happen tomorrow, Dec. 29
|
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that while a prisoner swap is "supposed to" take place on December 29,The notion of an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange gained momentum during peace talks in Paris on December 9 among the so-called Normandy Four -- Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany -- trying to bring an end to the five-year conflict."There is supposed to be an exchange [of prisoners] tomorrow," Zelenskiy told journalists during a visit to Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk region for a bridge opening on December 28, according to his official website. "We look forward to this. The verification of all people is not completed yet," Zelenskiy added.The UNIAN news agency quoted a representative of Donetsk separatists as saying thatBut there was no official confirmation of any figures.There are no definitive, publicly available lists of the prisoners that each side is holding.This would be the second major prisoner exchange involving Ukrainians caught up in the conflict in four months.In the last one, Russia and Ukraine traded a total of 70 prisoners in a move that many regarded as progress in efforts to deescalate a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since Moscow forcibly annexed Crimea and Russia-backed gunmen grabbed swaths of eastern Ukraine, including parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in 2014.Russia insists it is not a party to the conflict, despite significant evidence that includes communication with separatist leaders, captured Russians, and Russian casualties in the fighting.A special representative in Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that has monitors in eastern Ukraine and has mediated talks among the parties announced on December 23 that negotiators had "reached an agreement on a mutual release and exchange of conflict-related detainees by the end of the year."Zelenskiy won the presidency as a political outsider in April pledging to seek an end to the conflict -- which Kyiv and the West blame squarely on Russia -- and clean up rampant corruption for post-Soviet Ukraine's 42 million citizens.
| null |
https://www.sott.net/article/426442-Zelensky-says-prisoner-swap-supposed-to-happen-tomorrow-Dec-29
|
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 18:07:43 +0000
| 1,577,574,463 | 1,577,580,919 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
563,219 |
tass--2019-03-23--All for all prisoner swap in Donbass might be arranged in 5 days Ukrainian politician
| 2019-03-23T00:00:00 |
tass
|
‘All for all’ prisoner swap in Donbass might be arranged in 5 days — Ukrainian politician
|
### Servicemen seen during an exchange of war prisoners between the Ukrainian government and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) on December 27, 2017 © Valery Matytsin/TASS KIEV, March 23. /TASS/. An ‘all for all’ prisoner exchange might take place in a short period of time, given the Ukrainian side has political will, Chairman of the Opposition Platform - For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk said on the Ukrainian TV channel NewsOne. "Should Ukraine have political will, we will be able to carry out that [‘all for all’] exchange in three, four or maximum five days," he said. Medvedchuk added that Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko should make a decision. "We need a political resource here which the head of state utilizes," the politician went on to say. "None of the swaps has been held without Poroshenko. He makes the decision in Kiev, while the so-called leaders of the unrecognized territories do so in Donetsk and Lugansk." The politician recalled that 870 people have been released since 2014. The all-for-all prisoner exchange is one of the key provisions of the Minsk peace deal signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk on February 12, 2015, after marathon talks between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine. Since then the sides have carried out several swaps, and the largest so far took place in December 2017. Kiev handed over 233 prisoners to the Donbass republics and received 73 in return. Both parties stressed that the prisoner exchange process had not been completed and they were determined to do everything possible to continue it in 2018. However, since then, the sides have reached no agreements on prisoner swaps. Boris Gryzlov, Russia’s envoy to the Minsk talks of the Contact Group seeking peace for eastern Ukraine, places responsibility for the disruption of prisoner swaps between the conflicting sides on Kiev. In other media
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http://tass.com/world/1050200
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2019-03-23 20:15:44+00:00
| 1,553,386,544 | 1,567,545,088 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
567,627 |
tass--2019-07-18--Russia Ukraine disagree on interpretation of all for all prisoner swap Kremlin
| 2019-07-18T00:00:00 |
tass
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Russia, Ukraine disagree on interpretation of 'all for all' prisoner swap — Kremlin
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ST. PETERSBURG, July 18. /TASS/. Russia and Ukraine have disagreements in interpreting the "all for all" prisoner swap mechanism, but in general Moscow supports it, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. He thus commented on remarks by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky who said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin supported the "all for all" exchange mechanism in a phone call last week. "The perfect ‘all for all’ formula was indeed mentioned during the telephone conversation. It was said that it would be desirable to eventually come to that formula. At the same time, it was specified that Russia and Ukraine interpreted the word ‘all’ in a different way. That’s why experts will have to harmonize these interpretations, and then the implementation [of that mechanism] will be more feasible," Peskov concluded.
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https://tass.com/politics/1069212
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2019-07-18 12:01:18+00:00
| 1,563,465,678 | 1,567,536,465 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
569,363 |
tass--2019-08-21--Kiev not ready to discuss prisoner swap at todays meeting in Minsk DPR
| 2019-08-21T00:00:00 |
tass
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Kiev not ready to discuss prisoner swap at today’s meeting in Minsk — DPR
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MINSK, August 21. /TASS/. Kiev was not ready to discuss the prisoner swap issue at the meeting of the Contact Group for the settlement in eastern Ukraine, Human Rights Commissioner of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Daria Morozova reported on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, Kiev's interim envoy was present at today’s meeting, who was not ready to hold the subgroup’s session and was unable to present the necessary information on the stage of the procedural decisions," the statement published on Morozova's official website informs. "For the same reason, we were unable to discuss other items on the agenda." "I would like to recall that we’re not just talking about numbers 102 and 50 — each number is a living person who was given hope for the upcoming exchange. These people have families — children, spouses, parents — who also hope to reunite with their loved ones soon. This is why I urge not to dash their hopes and to follow the agreements reached earlier," Morozova added. The last large-scale exchange of detainees between Ukraine and Donbass took place in December 2017. Back then, Kiev exchanged 233 prisoners for 73 detained Ukrainian citizens. The parties underlined that the release of prisoners was not over and they would make every effort to continue this process. However, since then, the parties were failing to reach new agreements on mutual release and exchange of prisoners. The deadlock was broken at a meeting of the Contact Group for the settlement in Ukraine on July 17, when the parties in the conflict coordinated the prisoner swap procedure, agreeing to exchange 208 representatives of the DPR and LPR for 69 Ukrainian military. Fifty of them are held by the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and another 19 — by the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). It is expected that the procedural measures aimed to exchange the prisoners would take up to six weeks.
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https://tass.com/world/1074398
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2019-08-21 12:57:33+00:00
| 1,566,406,653 | 1,567,533,829 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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569,867 |
tass--2019-08-28--Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap put off attorney says
| 2019-08-28T00:00:00 |
tass
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Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap put off, attorney says
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KIEV, August 28. /TASS/. The Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange has been put off indefinitely, Valentin Rybin, the defense attorney of several Russian nationals convicted in Ukraine, informed TASS. "The prisoner swap has been put off. There is no pardon decree yet. There is every likelihood that there are certain forces in Vladimir Zelensky’s office that want to derail the exchange," he said. Rybin earlier said that the date for the prisoner swap had been agreed on, declining to provide more details. At the same time, the attorney who represents the interests of Russian citizens Maxim Odintsov, Alexander Baranov and Yevgeny Mefedov noted that the final lists of individuals who were expected to be exchanged "were not approved yet, and everything could change." He assured, however, that Mefedov, Odintsov and Baranov remained on the list. Last week, Director of the Russian Center for Current Politics Alexei Chesnakov said that Moscow and Kiev could soon hold the next prisoner exchange that would include the Ukrainian sailors arrested following the Kerch Strait incident. Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova travelled to Kiev on Friday. However, the agenda of her visit remains unknown.
| null |
https://tass.com/society/1075344
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2019-08-28 08:13:17+00:00
| 1,566,994,397 | 1,567,543,616 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
570,005 |
tass--2019-08-30--No final date yet for Moscow-Kiev prisoner swap says Ukraines Security Service
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
tass
|
No final date yet for Moscow-Kiev prisoner swap, says Ukraine’s Security Service
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KIEV, August 30. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has said that the next prisoner exchange between Kiev and Moscow would not take place on Friday, and its final date was not yet determined. Issue of Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap can be resolved on Friday, says lawyer Commenting on reports that the exchange could take place in Kiev’s Zhuliany airport any moment, she noted: "We do not give any specific dates. I can say, however, that it will not take place today. There is no final date yet." Gitlyanskaya earlier cautioned reporters from disseminating unverified information, saying that the complicated negotiation process continued. Later on, the Ukrainian president’s office likewise refuted media reports, which asserted that the exchange of detainees between Kiev and Moscow had come to an end, stressing that the negotiation process was ongoing.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1075720
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2019-08-30 09:39:51+00:00
| 1,567,172,391 | 1,569,416,930 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
570,042 |
tass--2019-08-30--Talks on prisoner swap continue Ukraines Security Service says
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
tass
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Talks on prisoner swap continue, Ukraine’s Security Service says
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KIEV, August 30. /TASS/. Negotiations on the next prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine continue, Yelena Gitlyanskaya, the Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), has said. "Dear reporters, the complicated negotiation process on the prisoner exchange continues. Arm yourselves with patience. I hope it won't take long. Do not disseminate unverified information. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!" she wrote on her Facebook page. Some Ukrainian media outlets earlier reported that the next prisoner swap would take place on Friday, while Ukrainian nationals serving prison sentences in Russia were expected to arrive in Kiev’s airport later in the day. However, Defense Attorney Valentin Rybin who represents the interests of some Russian nationals held in Ukraine informed TASS that his clients who were getting ready for the exchange remained in prison.
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https://tass.com/world/1075703
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2019-08-30 06:02:56+00:00
| 1,567,159,376 | 1,569,416,930 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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570,264 |
tass--2019-09-04--Kremlin not planning to announce date of Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap
| 2019-09-04T00:00:00 |
tass
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Kremlin not planning to announce date of Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap
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No progress on Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange so far, attorney says VLADIVOSTOK, September 4. /TASS/. The Kremlin is not going to announce the date of a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine because this issue is sensitive, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. "This issue is sensitive. There cannot be any announcements here. The fact will become known," Peskov told TASS, answering a question whether the swap could be carried out by the end of this week. The talks on holding a prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing. A number of legal procedures need to be carried out, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on Monday.
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https://tass.com/politics/1076323
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2019-09-04 06:40:44+00:00
| 1,567,593,644 | 1,569,331,411 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
570,386 |
tass--2019-09-05--Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap can take place in coming days says politician
| 2019-09-05T00:00:00 |
tass
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Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap can take place in coming days, says politician
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VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. The next prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine could take place within the next few days, Viktor Medvedchuk, Head of the Political Council of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform - For Life party, said on Thursday. "The exchange is due to take place in the coming days. This is a very positive moment," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). According to Medvedchuk, the negotiations on the issue are proceeding smoothly.
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https://tass.com/world/1076607
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2019-09-05 06:45:25+00:00
| 1,567,680,325 | 1,569,331,216 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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570,521 |
tass--2019-09-07--US embassy in Moscow hails Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
tass
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US embassy in Moscow hails Russian-Ukrainian prisoner swap
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MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. The US embassy in Moscow has welcomed the news of the Saturday prisoner swap between Moscow and Kiev, Spokesperson for US embassy Andrea Kalan said. "We welcome the news of a prisoner exchange and are encouraged to see signs of a more robust dialogue and lowering of tensions between #Russia and #Ukraine," the diplomat wrote on Twitter. On Saturday afternoon, a plane of the special flight unit Rossiya landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, carrying Russian nationals released in a prisoner swap with Ukraine. A Ukrainian aircraft touched down at Kiev airport at approximately the same time. Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said that the prisoner swap was carried out in conformity with the ‘35 for 35’ principle.
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https://tass.com/politics/1077094
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2019-09-07 20:30:19+00:00
| 1,567,902,619 | 1,569,330,883 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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575,304 |
tass--2019-12-16--Ukrainian top diplomat hopes for new Donbass prisoner swap by end of 2019
| 2019-12-16T00:00:00 |
tass
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Ukrainian top diplomat hopes for new Donbass prisoner swap by end of 2019
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Kiev hopes to agree on three or four "humanitarian areas" of disengaging forces, the minister said KIEV, December 16. /TASS/. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristayko has expressed hope that the Contact Group for the settlement in eastern Ukraine would be able to approve another prisoner swap and ceasefire by the end of 2019. "There are three main events set to take place before the end of the year, which will help us see whether we can expect progress. Firstly, this includes the "all approved for all approved" prisoner swap, however, we have to take into account that we must implement the "all for all" formula. Secondly, it includes a comprehensive, permanent and stable ceasefire. It will be announced on December 20 or 21," he said on Monday in an interview with the UNIAN news agency. The minister added that "another important event" might take place this week. "On our request, the Red Cross will attempt to cross the line [of contact] and take part in the investigation into the whereabouts of, according to different estimations, nearly 500 people that are reported missing," Pristayko said. According to the foreign minister, Ukraine expects to coordinate three or four disengagement areas, which will be vital in terms of the humanitarian situation. "We believe that at this stage disengagement should be carried out at those areas, which are of high humanitarian importance. This is a priority at these three or four areas, or whichever we manage to agree on," Pristaiko told Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency. Ukraine hopes to achieve agreement on these disengagement areas as soon as possible. "Even the next meeting [on December 18] would suit us," the minister commented. Pristaiko went on to say that Ukraine is ready to integrate the "Steinmeier formula" into the law on a special procedure for local self-governance in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. "We are ready to take this step [implement the "Steinmeier formula" — TASS] by integrating it into Ukraine’s legislation. There is every likelihood that it will be integrated into the special status law," he told Ukraine’s UNIAN news agency. To implement the formula, Ukraine needs to pass a law [on local elections in the Donbass region], which doesn’t exist yet, Pristaiko continued. "The ‘Steinmeier formula’ has become a compromise to some extent, but it cannot resolve all issues. Here we need everyone’s good will, including our partners who should certify the elections and say that the elections have indeed been held. <…> The ‘Steinmeier formula’ will finally work if all elements are in place," he concluded. The Minsk Agreements need to be adjusted, however, so far, there is no need for their complete overhaul, Vadim Pristayko stated. "They [the Minsk Agreements] are actually unrealistic, at least because they have terminological and chronological faults. For example, the dates have long passed. At the very least, we can consider their adjustment. Let’s say, changing the dates. An adjustment of a certain configuration of the Minsk Agreements is also possible. So far, neither Ukraine, nor Russia nor the international community are ready for a complete overhaul of the Minsk Agreements," Pristayko told the UNIAN news agency. The participants in the Normandy Four summit held in Paris on December 9 approved a communique. One of its paragraphs is dedicated to the political part of the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbass and the mechanism for implementing the relevant provisions of the Minsk Agreements. The issue at hand is, in particular, the need to provide a legislative framework for a special procedure for local self-governance of separate districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. The participants in the summit also highlighted the need to include the "Steinmeier formula" in Ukraine’s legislation in the form that was agreed on by the Normandy Four and the Contact Group. In late 2015, the then German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier put forward a plan that later became known as the "Steinmeier Formula." The plan stipulates that special status be granted to Donbass in accordance with the Minsk Agreements. In particular, the document envisages that Ukraine’s special law on local self-governance will take effect in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on a temporary basis on the day of local elections, becoming permanent after the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issues a report on the vote’s results.
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https://tass.com/world/1099645
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Mon, 16 Dec 2019 11:23:06 +0300
| 1,576,513,386 | 1,576,499,025 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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576,070 |
tass--2019-12-29--Prisoner swap in Donbass seen as step to implementation of Minsk accords, says envoy
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
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Prisoner swap in Donbass seen as step to implementation of Minsk accords, says envoy
|
MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. Sunday’s prisoner exchange between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass is seen as another step towards the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Russia’s chief negotiator at the Donbass conflict settlement talks, Boris Gryzlov, said. "Today’s event is a step towards further implementation of the entire package of humanitarian and political measures committed to paper in the Minsk agreements," he said. "We hope that now Kiev will be able to proceed to the implementation of its political commitments and agree, within the Contact Group, all the legal aspects of Donbass’ special status, including its enshrining in the constitution." Gryzlov also stressed that Kiev had undertaken not to prosecute the people it had released. The Russian chief negotiator hailed the fact that the sides had demonstrated political will to carry out the exchange by the yearend as had been agreed at the Contact Group videoconference on December 23. "I would like to stress that under that agreement the parties to the Ukrainian internal conflict have undertaken to complete the pardoning procedures and not to prosecute people they release. Kiev guaranteed "procedural clearance" for those of them who have not yet been sentenced by court," he noted. "And I would like to thank all who has made his or her contribution to helping people return to their homes," he added. Kiev and the Donbass republics exchanged prisoners earlier on Sunday. The swap was carried put near the Mayorskoye checkpoint. According to preliminary data, Ukraine released 124 people and the Donbass republics handed over to Kiev 76 people.
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https://tass.com/politics/1104685
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Sun, 29 Dec 2019 18:32:27 +0300
| 1,577,662,347 | 1,577,665,473 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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715,063 |
theguardianuk--2019-11-19--Taliban free US and Australian hostages in prisoner swap
| 2019-11-19T00:00:00 |
theguardianuk
|
Taliban free US and Australian hostages in prisoner swap
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The Taliban have released an American and an Australian held hostage since 2016 in exchange for three prominent members of the militant group who were released by the Afghanistan government and flown to Qatar the previous day. Australian Timothy Weeks, 50, and Kevin King, 63, an American, were released in southern Zabul province, ending their more than three years in captivity. The prisoner swap was supposed to have taken place last week but was aborted for reasons that are still unclear. The release of the two westerners, who were teachers at Kabul’s American University of Afghanistan, was confirmed on Tuesday by Taliban officials and by Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, who said his government helped to facilitate the exchange. The three released Taliban prisoners include Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the militant group’s deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is also head of the hardline Haqqani network. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, announced the “conditional release” of the Taliban figures at a press event broadcast live on state television last week. He said it was a hard decision but one he felt compelled to make in the interest of the Afghan people. The swap had been expected to take place within hours of Ghani’s announcement but diplomats soon flagged a problem and after two days, a Taliban spokesman said the group had yet to receive its prisoners. The reasons for the delay – and for the apparent resumption of the deal on Tuesday – are unclear. Weeks, from the New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, and King, from Pennsylvania, were abducted at gunpoint from a car in August 2016. They were seized outside the American University in Kabul where they both worked as teachers. US Navy Seals conducted a raid to free them days later, descending on a militant hideout in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, but the men had been moved hours earlier, according to reports. The pair appeared looking gaunt and weathered in a video released in January 2017 begging their parents to ask the US government to negotiate for their release. They appeared in a second video later that year, setting a June 2017 deadline for their release, in which Weeks pleaded with then-Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to negotiate for his release. Both men said they were being treated well by the Taliban but that they would remain prisoners and unless their governments could negotiate their freedom. It is unknown whether the men had been forced to speak. The Taliban released a statement in October of that year claiming King was suffering from a “dangerous heart and kidney disease”. “We have tried to treat him from time to time, but we do not have medical facilities as we are in a war situation,” the Taliban statement said. A Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan previously told the Guardian the group considered teachers at the American University of Afghanistan dangerous as they “change the minds of society”. Imran Khan said Pakistan welcomed the release of the men and hoped it would give “a boost of confidence to all parties involved to re-engage in the peace process”. The American University of Afghanistan said in a statement it “shares the relief of the families of Kevin and Timothy, and we look forward to providing all the support we can to Kevin and Tim and their families”. Southern Zabul province, where the two professors were freed, is heavily controlled by the Taliban and vast parts of it have long been a no-go area for the government. According to the Taliban, an unofficial ceasefire is being observed in three districts of the province – Shahjoy, Shahmatzo and Naw Bahar – possibly to facilitate the release of the two hostages. The Haqqani group predates the Taliban but has become integrated into its structure, and is suspected of having carried out some of the most brutal and indiscriminate attacks over the course of the nearly two decades of war that have followed the 2001 US-led invasion. Besides a statement in 2017 that the Australian government was “working to secure the release of an Australian man in Afghanistan”, very little has been publicly said, and no public campaigns by the family or otherwise have been made regarding their cases. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and the US national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, made separate calls to Ghani on Monday to discuss the prisoners’ release, Ghani’s spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said. The release and swap were intended to try to restart talks to end Afghanistan’s 18-year war and allow for the eventual withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The US had been close to an agreement with the Taliban in September but a fresh wave of violence in the Afghan capital in which a US soldier died brought talks and any impending deal to a halt. The agreement was to call for direct talks between the Taliban and Afghan government as well as other prominent Afghans to find a negotiated end to the war and to set out a roadmap for a peaceful post-conflict Afghanistan. Associated Press contributed to this report
|
Ben Doherty in Sydney and Michael Safi in Amman
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/19/taliban-say-us-and-australian-hostages-freed-in-prisoner-swap
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Tue, 19 Nov 2019 09:56:54 GMT
| 1,574,175,414 | 1,574,166,299 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
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809,750 |
themoscowtimes--2019-07-18--Ukraine Agrees Prisoner Swap With Pro-Russian Separatists
| 2019-07-18T00:00:00 |
themoscowtimes
|
Ukraine Agrees Prisoner Swap With Pro-Russian Separatists
|
Ukraine and Russia have agreed a prisoner swap expected to involve a total of 277 people taken captive in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday. Roman Bezsmertny said Kiev expected to exchange 208 people serving jail sentences in Ukraine for 69 Ukrainians. "The most important — an agreement was reached on the start of exchange procedure of prisoners of war, illegally held, convicted persons in the ratio of 208 to 69," he said. Bezsmertny represents Ukraine in the working group on political issues of the Trilateral Contact Group, a body that aims to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. The accord was concluded in the Belarus capital Minsk following talks in the trilateral group, whose other members are Russia and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a European security body tasked with monitoring a 2015 ceasefire agreement. Bezsmertny gave no exact date for the exchange but said the preparatory procedures could take up to several months. Vadym Prystaiko, a senior presidential official and the nominee for the post of Ukrainian foreign minister, this week said Ukraine and Russia agreed that this exchange could take place over the next month. Kiev's forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014, in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite the ceasefire agreement. In the last prisoner exchange, conducted in December 2017, Ukraine handed over about 300 captives to pro-Russian separatists and took back around 70, but disagreements have prevented any further swaps since then. Russia still holds dozens of Ukrainian captives from the conflict but it is unclear how many Russians are being held in Ukraine.
| null |
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/18/ukraine-agrees-prisoner-swap-with-pro-russian-separatists-a66476
|
2019-07-18 14:36:24+00:00
| 1,563,474,984 | 1,567,536,476 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,024,389 |
thetelegraph--2019-12-29--Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists exchange 200 in all-for-all prisoner swap
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
thetelegraph
|
Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists exchange 200 in all-for-all prisoner swap
|
Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine on Sunday exchanged 200 prisoners in a move aimed at ending their five-year war. The swap at a checkpoint near the rebel-held city of Horlivka was part of an agreement brokered this month at a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France. According to figures from officials of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics _ the two separatist governments in the rebel area _ Ukraine turned over 124 people and the separatists freed 76. Those released by Ukraine included five former members of the now-disbanded special police force Berkut who were charged in the killing of protesters in Kyiv in 2014, Ukrainian news site Hromadske quoted their lawyer, Igor Varfolomeyev, as saying. The Security Service of Ukraine said the 76 freed by the rebels included 12 servicemen, two of whom had been held since 2015 after being ambushed while escorting a convoy of wounded out of the battle of Debaltseve, which destroyed much of the city.
|
Associated Press
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/29/ukraine-pro-russian-separatists-exchange-200-all-for-all-prisoner/
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Sun, 29 Dec 2019 17:30:44 GMT
| 1,577,658,644 | 1,577,665,878 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
1,064,174 |
unian--2019-08-30--Ukraine NSDC secretary arrives at Kyiv Airport comments reports on prisoner swap
| 2019-08-30T00:00:00 |
unian
|
Ukraine NSDC secretary arrives at Kyiv Airport, comments reports on prisoner swap
|
Asked whether there the exchange will be completed today, Danyliuk said: "We hope so." Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Danyliuk, arrived at the Kyiv Zhuliany Airport, where journalists are awaiting the return of Ukrainians who some reports say are being released from Russian prisons. When asked if there is information that prisoners of war and political prisoners will arrive in Ukraine today, Danyliuk said: "I won't comment on this issue. We will comment on it when this happens. Let's wait for the fact itself. This is a very important question," Hromadske reports. To clarify the question whether there will be an exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia held today, he replied: "We hope." Read alsoPrisoner swap: Ukrainian political prisoners, POW sailors on their way home – media Danyliuk’s visit to the airport is not connected with the exchange of prisoners – the NSDC secretary is flyng to Poland to meet with his counterpart. As UNIAN reported earlier, the newly elected Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ruslan Riaboshapka, reported, citing a Verkhovna Rada staffer, that the exchange of prisoners with Russia took place and Ukrainian political prisoners, including Sentsov, Balukh, Hryb, as well as POW sailors, are returning to Ukraine.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/politics/10667523-ukraine-nsdc-secretary-arrives-at-kyiv-airport-comments-reports-on-prisoner-swap.html
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2019-08-30 05:50:00+00:00
| 1,567,158,600 | 1,569,417,003 |
conflict, war and peace
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prisoners of war
|
1,064,366 |
unian--2019-09-07--Prisoner swap Two Ukrainian planes landed in Moscow
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
unian
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Prisoner swap: Two Ukrainian planes landed in Moscow
|
Two airplanes with the national symbols of Ukraine have landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. It is expected they will deliver Ukrainian prisoners of war to Ukraine, Deutsche Welle's Ukrainian service reports. As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian government plane No. RSD092 landed at Ukraine's Boryspil International Airport.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/politics/10676832-prisoner-swap-two-ukrainian-planes-landed-in-moscow.html
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2019-09-07 09:02:00+00:00
| 1,567,861,320 | 1,569,330,955 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
1,064,372 |
unian--2019-09-07--Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap kicks off lawyer
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
unian
|
Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap kicks off – lawyer
|
Polozov also confirmed to Russia's Interfax news outlet that the sailors had left a Moscow-based Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. Coordinator of a group of lawyers for 24 Ukrainian sailors Nikolay Polozov has said the prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russian kicked off. Read alsoUkraine-Russia prisoner swap may take place on Sept 7 – Russian media "The defense team of the Ukrainian prisoners of war did not comment on unverified rumors and assumptions regarding their release. Now we can say the process has begun," he wrote on Facebook. Polozov also confirmed to Russia's Interfax news outlet that the sailors had left a Moscow-based Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. "According to my data, the sailors have already left the detention center. I believe they were taken to the airport for extradition to Ukraine," he said. Earlier, an UNIAN correspondent in Russia said buses with tinted windows accompanied by police had left the territory of the detention center. Presumably, they were heading to Moscow's Vnukovo-2 Airport, where the government terminal is located.
| null |
https://www.unian.info/society/10676757-ukraine-russia-prisoner-swap-kicks-off-lawyer.html
|
2019-09-07 07:47:00+00:00
| 1,567,856,820 | 1,569,330,956 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
522,456 |
sputnik--2019-01-23--ICRC Sends Staff to Yemen Readies for Prisoner Exchanges - Regional Chief
| 2019-01-23T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
ICRC Sends Staff to Yemen, Readies for Prisoner Exchanges - Regional Chief
|
"We have increased our personnel in Yemen, flying in 15 delegates dedicated to the operation. We are rehabilitating the locations where detainees will be gathered before being transported to the airport. We, together with the Yemen Red Crescent Society, are preparing to provide medical assistance to detainees in need. And we are preparing two planes, each with a capacity of 200 passengers, to shuttle detainees between Sana’a and Sayoun", ICRC regional director for the Near and Middle East Fabrizio Carboni said in a statement. Carboni added that the ICRC hoped to see progress on the prisoner swap between the two warring sides in Yemen in the next few days. Prisoner exchanges fall within the framework of an agreement reached in Sweden after the most recent round of consultations on Yemen’s peace settlement peace process took place in mid-December. Other humanitarian measures agreed during the consultations included the maintenance of a ceasefire in Yemen’s port city of Al Hodeidah.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201901231071741691-icrc-yemen-prisoners-exchange/
|
2019-01-23 12:00:00+00:00
| 1,548,262,800 | 1,567,551,259 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
810,900 |
themoscowtimes--2019-11-28--Russia, Ukraine Reach 2nd Prisoner Exchange Deal – RBC
| 2019-11-28T00:00:00 |
themoscowtimes
|
Russia, Ukraine Reach 2nd Prisoner Exchange Deal – RBC
|
Russia and Ukraine swapped 35 prisoners each in September, a move that appeared to presage a thaw in relations that have been frozen since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. Kiev and Moscow said afterward that the sides were working on a fresh prisoner swap ahead of a four-way peace summit on the eastern Ukraine conflict set for Dec. 9. Ukraine and Russia have reached the final stages of an all-for-all prisoner exchange agreement ahead of a key peace summit next month, the RBC news website reported Thursday. Ukraine is ready to hand over 250 prisoners in exchange for 100 prisoners held by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, RBC cited four unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations as saying. “The lists have already been agreed and approved,” one of the sources was quoted as saying. “The legal stage is coming to an end.” The new prisoner swap could be adopted when the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine meet in Paris on Dec. 9, a source close to the Ukrainian president told RBC. Still, the source close to Volodymyr Zelenskiy and an unnamed negotiator cautioned that the exchange depends on the outcome of the four-way summit. The Sept. 7 exchange included Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, the 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait, potential MH17 crash witness Vladimir Tsemakh and Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky. The conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops in the Donbass has killed 14,000 people since it broke out in 2014, according to the United Nations.
| null |
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/28/russia-ukraine-reach-2nd-prisoner-exchange-deal-rbc-a68356
|
Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:01:01 +0100
| 1,574,946,061 | 1,575,139,980 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
572,809 |
tass--2019-10-31--Turkey, Russia discuss release of Syrian war prisoners — top brass
| 2019-10-31T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Turkey, Russia discuss release of Syrian war prisoners — top brass
|
"We are holding talks with the Russian side regarding the handover of 18 detained servicemen of the regime [Syrian government army — TASS]. Two of them were injured, they have received medical aid," the NTV channel quotes the minister as saying. Akar also said that the military command "informed President [of Turkey Recep Tayyip] Erdogan on the situation and received the corresponding orders." MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The Turkish and Russian military are discussing the release of 18 Syrian war prisoners captured in the northern part of the country by military formations supporting Ankara, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stated on Thursday. On October 29, the Al Arabiya TV channel informed, citing Kurdish sources, that units of the Syrian opposition had captured Syrian soldiers in the Tell-Tamer settlement in northeastern Syria, where clashes between the Turkish forces and the Syrian army took place. On October 9, Turkey launched a military incursion into northern Syria, codenaming it Operation Peace Spring, with the Turkish Armed Forces and the Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army carrying it out. Erdogan’s military campaign kicked off with airstrikes on the positions of the previously US-backed Kurdish units. The Erdogan government claimed that its goal is to clear the border area of what it calls ‘terrorists’ (Turkey’s broad label of the Kurdish forces) and establish a 30 km-long buffer zone in Syria’s north, where over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey would resettle. Ankara’s incursion into Syria has triggered an outcry in the region and across the world. The Syrian SANA news agency branded the operation as an act of aggression, while the international community condemned Erdogan’s military operation. On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a memorandum on joint actions in northeastern Syria. According to the document, as of noon October 23, Russian military police and Syrian border guards started to monitor the withdrawal of Kurdish military formations to the depth of 30 km from the border. Russia and Turkey will then begin the joint patrolling of the area. On the outcomes of the agreement, Ankara stated that it had suspended its large-scale military operation in the area. However, Turkey retains control over the territories where it plans to relocate Syrian refugees in the future. The deadline for the Kurdish forces to withdraw expired on October 29, 18:00 local time. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Wednesday that Turkey and Russia would begin joint patrolling in northeastern Syria on Friday.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1086363
|
Thu, 31 Oct 2019 17:14:12 +0300
| 1,572,556,452 | 1,572,543,492 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
184,086 |
eveningstandard--2019-09-07--Landmark prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia under way
| 2019-09-07T00:00:00 |
eveningstandard
|
Landmark prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia under way
|
A widely-anticipated exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine is under way, according to reports. Buses from a Moscow prison believed to be carrying Ukrainian prisoners arrived at the capital's Vnukovo airport on Saturday. A prisoner exchange could be a significant step toward easing Russia-Ukraine relations and raising chances for resolving the conflict in Ukraine's east where fighting between troops and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Russian lawyer Mark Feigin, who defended a Ukrainian imprisoned for spying, tweeted to say that the exchange is underway. He said that the prisoners from the Russian side include 24 Ukrainian sailors who were seized by Russia in November. Mr Feigin also said they include Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who he has represented, and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, convicted of plotting terrorist acts. Planes from each country have arrived at each other's capitals to collect inmates, flightradar data showed and Interfax reported. Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was elected in April, has previously said his top priority was to end the conflict with Russia. While officials in Russia have said the prisoner exchange is vital for improving the "atmosphere surrounding a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis".
|
Katy Clifton
|
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/landmark-prisoner-exchange-between-ukraine-and-russia-under-way-a4231186.html
|
2019-09-07 08:14:00+00:00
| 1,567,858,440 | 1,569,330,878 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
200,430 |
fortruss--2019-12-29--BREAKING: Prisoner Exchange sees Raphael Lusvarghi freed from Ukrainian Prison
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
fortruss
|
BREAKING: Prisoner Exchange sees Raphael Lusvarghi freed from Ukrainian Prison
|
KIEV – A prisoner swap covering captives taken by both sides over the past two years took place earlier today. It involved the Donestk and Lugansk People’s Republics (the DPR and the LPR) and the Kiev based government. Circulating reports indicate that Kiev handed over 60 people to the DPR, while the DPR released 52 persons. The LPR released 25 persons, and Kiev handed over 63 persons to the LPR. Kiev, the LPR and the DPR said their list could be longer, as some people asked to be repatriated shortly before the exchange. Among the released was Rafael Lusvarghi, a volunteer that has the Brazilian citizenship, who was handed over by Kiev to the LPR. In 2014, Lusvarghi joined LPR self-defense forces and participated in repelling the aggression of the Kiev regime against the peaceful population of eastern Ukraine. Interestingly in his case, he had made his way back home, only to pass through Kiev voluntarily while en route to another assignment. He had been informed that the meeting point would be in Kiev, and given the assignment was not related to the Ukraine conflict, his employer reported they had assurances on his safe passage. The entire matter was revealed as a sting operation meant to lure Lusvarghi to Kiev, where he was arrested. The prisoner swap is said to be an important step that signals some progress in the de-escalation of the conflict.
|
Joaquin Flores
|
https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/12/breaking-prisoner-exchange-sees-raphael-lusvarghi-freed-from-ukrainian-prison/
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 20:58:11 +0000
| 1,577,671,091 | 1,577,664,421 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
218,170 |
france24--2019-12-30--Prisoner swap deal seen as 'real attack on credibility of Ukraine justice system'
| 2019-12-30T00:00:00 |
france24
|
Prisoner swap deal seen as 'real attack on credibility of Ukraine justice system'
|
The deal that led to an exchange of prisoners on Sunday between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists in the country’s war-torn east – swapping detained fighters for civilians and soldiers – has spurred public outrage in some quarters. Among those handed over to the separatists as part of the swap, Kiev included five riot policemen suspected of killing protesters during a pro-Western uprising in 2014. The release of the riot police has raised concerns in Ukraine, with many fearing the country is being pushed to pay too high a price for the detainee exchange. The men are suspected of having been involved in the bloody crackdown on protesters in the Ukrainian capital in 2014. Some 100 demonstrators were shot dead during the uprising. “They are just the five who the Ukrainian justice system had managed to detain. At least 26 others were wanted and they were suspected of having fled to either Crimea or to Russia, and Russia was refusing to extradite them and to cooperate with Ukrainian justice in any way,” FRANCE 24’s Gulliver Cragg reports from Kiev. “So this decision is, first of all, the end of any hope for justice for the families of the victims, those who were killed in those Maidan protests [in 2014]. But it is also a real attack on the credibility of the Ukrainian justice system,” Cragg adds. 'This country has no future' “What Ukrainians have been fighting for is going down the drain,” filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who was released in the September prisoner exchange, said on Facebook. “This country has no future,” Volodymyr Golodnyuk, whose 19-year-old son was killed in the uprising, said on his Facebook page. “It was a difficult decision,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the press after greeting former prisoners at Boryspil airport near Kiev. “But we were able to return those who are alive,” he added. The European Union said “we take note” of the exchange of riot policemen. “We expect all accusations will continue to be investigated and the parties concerned to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice,” the EU said in a statement. To watch Gulliver Cragg’s full report from Kiev, click on the player above.
|
FRANCE 24
|
https://www.france24.com/en/20191230-ukraine-russia-crimea-prisoner-swap-exchange-separatist-riot-police-zelensky-president-eu-european-union-maidan
|
Mon, 30 Dec 2019 10:06:23 GMT
| 1,577,718,383 | 1,577,709,089 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
472,176 |
rferl--2019-12-29--Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Complete Prisoner Swap
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
rferl
|
Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Complete Prisoner Swap
|
Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have completed what was billed as an "all-for-all" prisoner swap near the village of Horlivka on December 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office said. Relatives and supporters of the former captives handed over to the Ukrainian side were converging on Kyiv's Boryspil Airport to meet them upon their arrival in the capital. The swap, reportedly of around 200 prisoners in all, included fighters from the separatist ranks and civilians and servicemen long held in the breakaway regions. "Mutual release of detained persons has ended, " the presidential office said in a tweet, adding, "76 of ours are safe in Ukraine-controlled territory. Details later." Serhiy Sivoha, an adviser to the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council, told Ukraine's Hromadske TV that Ukraine had gotten 76 of its nationals back and handed over 127 detainees within the framework of the exchange. Earlier, the UNIAN news agency had quoted a representative of the Donetsk separatists as saying that the Ukrainian side was expected to hand over 87 people, while the separatists were set to swap 55. The swap was the second major prisoner exchange involving Ukrainians caught up in the conflict in four months. It included the handover to the government side of two RFE/RL contributors who had been held by separatists since 2017: Stanislav Aseyev and Oleh Halaziuk. The notion of an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange gained momentum during peace talks in Paris on December 9 among the so-called Normandy Four -- Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany -- trying to bring an end to the five-year conflict. In the last swap, Russia and Ukraine traded a total of 70 prisoners in a move that many regarded as progress in efforts to deescalate a war that has killed more than 13,000 people since Moscow forcibly annexed Crimea and Russia-backed gunmen grabbed swaths of eastern Ukraine including parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014. Russia insists it is not a party to the conflict, despite significant evidence that includes communication with separatist leaders, captured Russians, and Russian casualties in the fighting. After the swap on December 29, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv tweeted out congratulations of "liberated captives from Russia-controlled Donbas" and specifically cited "Russia's ongoing aggression [that] confronts Ukraine's leadership with difficult choices." In Moscow, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had welcomed the prisoner swap as a "positive" development, AFP reported. There was controversy ahead of the planned swap when families of protesters killed by riot police during pro-Western unrest in 2014 publicly objected to any of the police officers convicted in those killings being part of a trade. Families of the victims of the riot policemen warned in an open letter on Facebook to Zelenskiy that the release of the men could lead to a "wave of protests." "We would like to inform you that these people are neither participants nor victims of the conflict in eastern Ukraine," they wrote. A number of rights and press groups had urged the release of the RFE/RL contributors Aseyev and Halaziuk over the past two years. Aseyev was sentenced by separatists in October to 15 years in captivity for alleged espionage in a process that rights and press-freedom groups called "illegal" and "shocking." Halaziuk was a professor at a Kharkiv economic institute before he started blogging under the pseudonym Myroslav Tyamushchiy to chronicle life in a war zone after the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014. "We are thrilled and relieved that Stas and Oleh have been released,” said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly, who had urged Zelenskiy to seek the men's release during a meeting in Kyiv last month. “They were held incommunicado for 2 1/2 years, not because of any crime they committed, but because they reported the truth about Russia’s occupation of their homeland." Fly went on to thank the Ukrainian government and the so-called Trilateral Contact Group for their work toward winning the journalists' freedom. The conflict in the region known as the Donbas is one of the biggest challenges facing Zelenskiy, who campaigned on a vow to end the conflict. He was inaugurated on May 20. The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for its support of the separatists in eastern Ukraine and for the seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, UNIAN, and Interfax
| null |
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-separatists-prisoner-swap-zelenskiy-mocsow/30349771.html
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 04:23:52 +0000
| 1,577,611,432 | 1,577,665,977 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
554,792 |
sputnik--2019-12-28--Donbass Ombudswoman Reveals Date of Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev and East Ukraine Republics
| 2019-12-28T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Donbass Ombudswoman Reveals Date of Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev and East Ukraine Republics
|
A prisoner exchange between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) will be held on 29 December and be based on the "87 for 55 formula", DPR ombudswoman Daria Morozova said on Saturday. On Monday, the Donbass contact group agreed in a video conference to exchange prisoners by the end of 2019. Donetsk and Lugansk authorities noted that they had received guarantees from Kiev that the Ukrainian side would halt the criminal prosecution of the exchanged persons. In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, which declared independence after a coup in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13,000 people have fallen victim to the conflict. The issue of resolving the Donbass conflict has been discussed during the meetings of a contact group in Minsk, which, since September 2014, has already adopted three documents regulating the conflict de-escalation process. However, despite armistice agreements, skirmishes between the parties to the conflict continue.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912281077887361-donbass-ombudswoman-reveals-date-of-prisoner-exchange-between-kiev-and-east-ukraine-republics/
|
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 11:36:47 +0300
| 1,577,551,007 | 1,577,538,149 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
554,937 |
sputnik--2019-12-29--Paris, Berlin, Washington Welcome Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev, Donbass
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Paris, Berlin, Washington Welcome Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev, Donbass
|
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have also welcomed the Sunday's exchange. The US embassy in Ukraine joined those who hailed the exchange of prisoners in Donbass. Earlier in the day, Ukraine has handed over more than 120 people to DPR and LPR, while the latter returned almost 80 Ukrainian fighters to Kiev. This was the first exchange of prisoners between the sides since 2017. It took place near the city of Horlivka in the Donetsk Region. On 9 December, the presidents of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine held talks in the so-called Normandy format and agreed, among everything, to ensure the exchange of prisoners between Kiev and Donbas under "all-for-all" formula once the sides finalize the lists of individuals to be released and swapped.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/world/201912291077895561-paris-berlin-washington-welcome-prisoner-exchange-between-kiev-donbass/
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 20:15:28 +0300
| 1,577,668,528 | 1,577,666,195 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
554,960 |
sputnik--2019-12-29--Ukraine's Ombudswoman Confirms Start of Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev, Donbass
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Ukraine's Ombudswoman Confirms Start of Prisoner Exchange Between Kiev, Donbass
|
The start of the exchange was also confirmed by the Ukrainian president's office. This is first exchange of prisoners between the sides since 2017. It is taking place near the DPR-controlled city of Horlivka. DPR ombudswoman Daria Morozova said that LPR representatives have already left for Ukrainian territory to start the procedure. The official added that about 20 people refused to be exchanged and wished to stay in the territory controlled by Kiev. According to a DPR representative, no incidents have been recorded in the ongoing prisoner exchange process so far. On 9 December, the presidents of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine held talks in the so-called Normandy format and agreed, among other things, to ensure an exchange of prisoners between Kiev and Donbass under an "all-for-all" formula once the sides finalise the lists of individuals to be released and swapped. The last prisoner exchange between the warring sides took place in December 2017.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912291077892975-ukraines-ombudswoman-confirms-start-of-prisoner-exchange-between-kiev-donbass/
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:52:14 +0300
| 1,577,641,934 | 1,577,624,213 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
554,972 |
sputnik--2019-12-29--Zelensky Says First Part of Normandy Accords Implemented Following Prisoner Exchange
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
sputnik
|
Zelensky Says First Part of Normandy Accords Implemented Following Prisoner Exchange
|
"The most important thing is that people are at home. The first part, which we agreed on in the Normandy format, has been completed. We returned our people, 81 people were released, 76 people are now in Ukraine, in the part controlled by Ukraine, and six remained in the temporarily occupied territories," Zelensky said. In addition, Zelensky stated that the release of Berkut security force members was one of the conditions for the prisoner exchange with the DPR and LPR. The Ukrainian president also said that Kiev would continue working toward returning the Ukrainian prisoners of war in Donbass that were not covered by the latest round of negotiated exchanges. At the same press encounter, Zelensky pledged to investigate the murders that occurred during the events in Kiev in February 2014 that toppled the government of then-President Viktor Yanukovych and eventually triggered the conflict in eastern Ukraine as Donetsk and Lugansk considered what happened to be a coup and unilaterally proclaimed independence from Ukraine. Earlier in the day, Ukraine had handed over more than 120 people to the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, while the latter two returned almost 80 Ukrainian fighters to Kiev. This was the first exchange of prisoners between the sides since 2017. It took place near the city of Horlivka in the Donetsk region. At the beginning of December, the presidents of France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine held talks in the so-called Normandy format to discuss the conflict in the eastern Ukrainian breakaway region of Donbass. The leaders agreed, among other things, to ensure an exchange of prisoners between Kiev and Donbass under an "all-for-all" formula once the sides finalise the lists of individuals to be released and swapped.
| null |
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201912291077896181-zelensky-says-first-part-of-normandy-accords-implemented-following-prisoner-exchange/
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 23:44:21 +0300
| 1,577,681,061 | 1,577,666,208 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
569,385 |
tass--2019-08-21--Russia to facilitate all-for-all Donbass prisoner exchange envoy
| 2019-08-21T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Russia to facilitate all-for-all Donbass prisoner exchange — envoy
|
MINSK, August 21. /TASS/. Russia is ready to facilitate the "all identified for all identified" prisoner exchange between Kiev and the Donbass republics, Russia’s envoy to the Contact Group for the settlement in eastern Ukraine Boris Gryzlov stated on Wednesday. "In the humanitarian area, the Russian delegation will facilitate and mediate the talks between Kiev and Donbass on the upcoming "all identified for all identified" prisoner swap in order to ensure it takes place as soon as possible," Gryzlov told reporters on the outcomes of the Contact Group’s session held in Minsk on Wednesday. The last large-scale exchange of detainees between Ukraine and the Donbass republics took place in December 2017. Back then, Kiev exchanged 233 prisoners for 73 detained Ukrainian citizens. The parties underlined that the release of prisoners was not over and they would make every effort to continue this process. However, since then, the parties were failing to reach new agreements on mutual release and exchange of prisoners. The deadlock was broken at a meeting of the Contact Group for the settlement in Ukraine on July 17, when the parties in the conflict coordinated the prisoner swap procedure, agreeing to exchange 208 of DPR and LPR representatives for 69 Ukrainian military. Fifty of them are held by the DPR, and another 19 - by the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR). It is expected that the procedural measures aimed to exchange the prisoners would take up to six weeks. On August 9, the DPR announced that they are "fully ready" for the swap. "As of now, we have confirmed the fact of 102 of our citizens held by the Ukrainian side. Kiev confirmed that they are on the swap list," the self-proclaimed republic’s human rights commissioner Daria Morozova informed. For its part, the DPR is ready to return 50 detained persons to Kiev.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1074523
|
2019-08-21 21:17:16+00:00
| 1,566,436,636 | 1,567,533,829 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
574,837 |
tass--2019-12-08--Zelensky to discuss prisoner swap, ceasefire and troops withdrawal in Paris
| 2019-12-08T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Zelensky to discuss prisoner swap, ceasefire and troops withdrawal in Paris
|
KIEV, December 8. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is expected to focus on three issues at the upcoming Normandy Four summit in Paris - a prisoner swap, ceasefire and the withdrawal of forces from the territories in Donbass uncontrolled by Kiev, which he calls a condition for holding local elections, his spokesperson Yulia Mendel said on Sunday. "The first three steps, which President Zelensky will raise at the Paris meeting, are a timeframe and conditions for returning captured Ukrainians, a real rather than a fake ceasefire and definitely, the withdrawal of foreign forces and armed groups from Donbass. The first two issues are directly related to human life, and that’s why they are important. The last one is the condition for holding polls in Donbass," Mendel wrote on her Facebook page. The spokesperson stressed that the meeting of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) leaders in Paris was a real chance for achieving ceasefire in Donbass. "Remember the saying: "When diplomats talk, cannons are silent "? The Normandy meeting on December 9 is a chance to make cannons go silent. Nothing else has worked so far," she said. Meanwhile, Ukrainians should not expect that the conflict in Donbass would be stopped immediately after the Normandy Four meeting, Mendel said, noting that the talks could leave "an aftertaste of disappointment.".
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1097001
|
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 13:26:52 +0300
| 1,575,829,612 | 1,575,807,621 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,025 |
tass--2019-12-28--Donbass prisoner swap with Kiev to take place on Dec 29 - DPR envoy
| 2019-12-28T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Donbass prisoner swap with Kiev to take place on Dec 29 - DPR envoy
|
DONETSK, December 28. /TASS/. A prisoner swap between the self-proclaimed Donbass republics and Kiev will take place on December 29 under the "all identified for all identified" formula, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) envoy to the Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine Daria Morozova informed on Saturday. She added that Kiev is expected to hand over 87 people for Donbass’ 55. "Kiev and Donbass have approved the prisoner exchange date under the "all identified for all identified" formula. This Sunday, December 29, that is, before the New Year, as agreed by the leaders of the Normandy Four, the Ukrainian side is expected to hand over 87 people. Donetsk and Lugansk will release 55 people," Morozova’s press service quotes her as saying. On Monday, the Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine has agreed to hold a prisoner swap before the end of 2019, as mandated by the leaders of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France) on the outcomes of the summit in Paris.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104519
|
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 11:11:47 +0300
| 1,577,549,507 | 1,577,535,948 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,050 |
tass--2019-12-29--Donbass republics hand over first 25 people to Kiev in prisoner swap
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Donbass republics hand over first 25 people to Kiev in prisoner swap
|
KIEV, December 29. /TASS/. The Donbass republics have handed over the first 25 people to Kiev in a prisoner swap, according to a live broadcast by the Ukrainian president’s office on its Facebook page on Sunday. "All the 25 people," a representative of the Lugansk People’s Republic said after verifying the prisoner swap list. When asked about whether they wanted to move to Ukraine, all the persons subject to the handover answered in the affirmative. The prisoner swap between the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, on the one hand, and Ukraine, on the other hand, started at the Gorlovka-Mayorskoye checkpoint on the line of contact between the conflicting parties. As was reported earlier, Donetsk and Lugansk are set to hand over 55 persons to Kiev and expect to receive 87 people. However, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ombudswoman Darya Morozova said on Sunday that the figures might change and the Donbass republics would receive a larger number of people. In turn, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada human rights envoy Lyudmila Denisova announced that Kiev intended to receive 80 people.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104625
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 13:32:20 +0300
| 1,577,644,340 | 1,577,622,012 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,051 |
tass--2019-12-29--Donbass republics, Ukraine start prisoner swap near Gorlovka
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Donbass republics, Ukraine start prisoner swap near Gorlovka
|
GORLOVKA, December 29. /TASS/. The first prisoner swap over the past two years has started between the self-proclaimed Donbass republics and Kiev near Gorlovka, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ombudswoman Darya Morozova announced on Sunday. "The swap has started," Morozova said. The prisoner swap is taking place at the Gorlovka-Mayorskoye point of entry/exit on the line of contact between the Donetsk People’s Republic and Ukraine. As the ombudswoman said, the persons held in custody in the DPR as a result of the armed conflict and subject to the swap had set off for the so-called grey zone - the territory between the positions of the conflicting parties - to finalize the exchange procedure. Donetsk and Lugansk are set to hand over 55 persons to Kiev and expect to receive 87 people, Morozova said on Saturday.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104619
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:28:20 +0300
| 1,577,640,500 | 1,577,621,998 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,053 |
tass--2019-12-29--EU welcomes prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Donbass republics - statement
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
EU welcomes prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Donbass republics - statement
|
BRUSSELS, December 29. /TASS/. The European Union has hailed Sunday’s exchange of detainees between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass as a good example of the implementation of the agreements reached at the latest Normandy Four summit, as follows from the statement of the European Union External Action Service released on Sunday. "This is a welcome example of implementation of one of the measures agreed at the Normandy 4 Summit of 9 December. The European Union expects all parties to further build on this momentum. Work to implement the measures agreed at the Summit must continue," the statement says. It also called for further investigation into what it called "the tragic events on Maidan in 2014," not specifying however what these words implied. Brussels stressed "the importance of the implementation of the Minsk agreements in full, including a permanent ceasefire" and pledged to continue its support "to the work of the Normandy format, the OSCE and the Trilateral Contact Group." Along with that, the European Union said it "remains in steadfast support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity." Kiev and the Donbass republics exchanged prisoners earlier on Sunday. The swap was carried put near the Mayorskoye checkpoint. According to preliminary data, Ukraine released 124 people and the Donbass republics handed over to Kiev 76 people.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104727
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 21:13:43 +0300
| 1,577,672,023 | 1,577,665,499 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,054 |
tass--2019-12-29--First in past two years prisoner exchange in Donbass over
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
First in past two years prisoner exchange in Donbass over
|
GORLOVKA, December 29. /TASS/. The first in the past two years prisoner exchange between Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) near Gorlovka is over, a TASS correspondent reported from the site. "We have received from Kiev 60 people. The Ukrainian side has brought several more people, we are waiting for them. We (Donetsk and Lugansk) handed over to Ukraine 52 people," DPR’s ombudswoman Darya Morozova said. Earlier, LPR’s negotiator at the humanitarian subgroup of the Contact Group and head of the LPR’s group on the prisoner exchange Olga Kobtseva said Lugansk had received from Ukraine 63 people. Thus, the prisoner swap formula is preliminarily 123 for 77.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104655
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 16:26:10 +0300
| 1,577,654,770 | 1,577,665,465 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,058 |
tass--2019-12-29--Kiev confirms start of prisoner swap in Donbass
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Kiev confirms start of prisoner swap in Donbass
|
KIEV, December 29. /TASS/. Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donbass republics have started their prisoner exchange procedure at the Mayorskoye checkpoint, the office of the Ukrainian president confirmed on Sunday. "The process of releasing detained persons has started at the Mayorskoye entry/exit checkpoint in the Donetsk Region," the Ukrainian president’s office said in its Telegram-channel. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada human rights envoy Lyudmila Denisova also reported about the start of the prisoner swap, adding that her representatives were at the scene of the event "to monitor the observance of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens during the handover of servicemen to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government." Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ombudswoman Darya Morozova announced earlier on Sunday that the first prisoner swap over the past two years had started between the self-proclaimed Donbass republics and Kiev near Gorlovka. "The swap has started," Morozova said. The prisoner swap is taking place at the Gorlovka-Mayorskoye point of entry/exit on the line of contact between the Donetsk People’s Republic and Ukraine. As the ombudswoman said, the persons held in custody in the DPR as a result of the armed conflict and subject to the swap had set off for the so-called grey zone - the territory between the positions of the conflicting parties - to finalize the exchange procedure. Donetsk and Lugansk are set to hand over 55 persons to Kiev and expect to receive 87 people, Morozova said on Saturday.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104623
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 12:59:39 +0300
| 1,577,642,379 | 1,577,621,988 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,060 |
tass--2019-12-29--Kiev, Donbass republics specify prisoner exchange formula
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Kiev, Donbass republics specify prisoner exchange formula
|
GORLOVKA, December 29. /TASS/. A total of 124 people were released and handed over to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) by Kiev in Sunday’s prisoner swap, a TASS correspondent reported from the exchange site near Gorlovka. It was reported earlier that the LPR received 63 people and the DPR - 60 people, or 123 people in all. Later however Ukraine handed over one more person. Apart from that, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s office confirmed that it had received 76 people, including 25 from the LPR and 51 from the DPR. By now, the swap formula is 124-for-76. Kiev and the Donbass republics exchanged prisoners earlier on Sunday. The swap was carried put near the Mayorskoye checkpoint. The Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine agreed at the beginning of the week to conduct a prisoner exchange by the yearend, with was among the provisions of the final document of the latest Normandy Four summit in Paris.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104677
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 18:29:15 +0300
| 1,577,662,155 | 1,577,665,477 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
576,062 |
tass--2019-12-29--Lugansk Republic receives 63 people in prisoner swap with Kiev
| 2019-12-29T00:00:00 |
tass
|
Lugansk Republic receives 63 people in prisoner swap with Kiev
|
GORLOVKA, December 29. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) has received 63 people in a prisoner swap with Kiev and handed over 25 persons, the republic’s envoy in the humanitarian subgroup of the Contact Group on settlement in eastern Ukraine, head of the LPR’s group on the prisoner exchange Olga Kobtseva announced on Sunday. "We have held the swap. We handed over 25 and took back 63 people," she told journalists. Nine people refused to participate in the swap and remained in Ukraine, she added. The prisoner swap is taking place at the Gorlovka-Mayorskoye point of entry/exit on the line of contact between the Donetsk People’s Republic and Ukraine. It was earlier reported that Donetsk and Lugansk were set to hand over 55 persons to Kiev and expected to receive 87 people. The verification of the prisoners lasted several hours. The prisoner swap is being monitored by the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
| null |
https://tass.com/world/1104631
|
Sun, 29 Dec 2019 15:12:19 +0300
| 1,577,650,339 | 1,577,622,001 |
conflict, war and peace
|
prisoners of war
|
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