Ukraine is ready to exchange Russian soldiers detained in Donbas for its journalist Roman Sushchenko held in Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said in an interview with the Austrian news website Profil.
Sushchenko is a foreign correspondent of the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform who was detained by the Russian special services during his private visit to Moscow on 30 September 2016.
"We are prepared to release Russian soldiers, who came to our land to kill, in exchange for Sushchenko's release," he said.
Ukraine seeks to ensure the release of all Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia and Crimea. "Sushchenko, [film director] Oleh Sentsov, many Crimean Tatars: we want them back," he said.
According to ombudsperson Valeriya Lutkovska, around a dozen career Russian servicemen, who were directly involved in the armed conflict in Donbas, were detained in Ukraine.
The Russian servicemen were not included in the lists for the exchange between Ukraine and pro-Russian militants which took place on 27 December 2017.