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Western leaders and Russia have welcomed a mass prisoner exchange amid efforts to end the five-year war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists fighting in Ukraine’s east.The swap of 200 prisoners, which took place at a checkpoint near the separatist-held city of Horlivka in the eastern Donetsk region on December 29, included military personnel, civilians, members of Ukraine’s disbanded Berkut security forces, and two RFE/RL journalists.
The former captives returned to Kyiv late on December 29 to tearful reunions with family and friends.