The prisoner swap took place on December 29. A total of 76 people were handed over to Kiev by the self-proclaimed Donbass republics (25 from the LPR and 51 from the DPR), while Kiev returned 61 detainees to the DPR and another 63 to the LPR. Kobtseva revealed earlier that there were several Russians and a Brazilian national among them.

LUGANSK, December 30. /TASS/. The handover of former officers of the Berkut riot police to the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) is a result of prolonged and serious efforts, LPR envoy to the humanitarian subgroup of the Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine Olga Kobtseva told reporters on Monday.

"Three people were handed over to Lugansk, two [Berkut officers — TASS] to Donetsk. This was hard and serious work, however, the republics had more than enough arguments in favor of their release," she said. "Mr. [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky stressed yesterday when meeting the prisoners released by the Donbass republics at the airport that if needed, he would hand over a hundred Berkut officers in exchange for the people who were imprisoned in the republics," Kobtseva added.

"This confirms that the republics have presented the right demands with reasonable arguments, and the Ukrainian side had to accept them and compromise, developing a cooperation mechanism, which led to five Berkut officers being handed over to the republics," she stated.

On February 20, 2014, a group of unidentified people armed with sniper rifles opened fire at protesters and police as riots against then President Viktor Yanukovich and his government peaked in the heart of the Ukrainian capital. According to official reports, the attack left 53 people dead. The new Ukrainian government blamed the shooting on Berkut officers.

On December 28, the Kiev Court of Appeal ruled to release on personal recognizance former officers of the Berkut riot police units, charged with a violent crackdown on protestors on Kiev’s Maidan Square in early 2014. The court decision applied to Pavel Abroskin, Sergei Zinchenko and Oleg Yanishevsky, who were being held at the Lukyanovsky pretrial detention facility in Kiev, and Alexander Marinchenko and Sergei Tamtura, who were held under house arrest.

Assistance to Brazilian

According to Kobtseva, the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) will provide the necessary assistance to Brazilian national Rafael Lusvarghi, who was handed over by Kiev during the recent prisoner exchange.

"This is the second time that he has been released. Following his first release, Ukraine failed to fulfill its obligations and Lusvarghi did not have enough time to leave for Brazil, so he was once again convicted for his political beliefs," said Kobtseva, who heads a working group on prisoner exchange.

According to her, during preparations for the prisoner swap, the LPR insisted on Lusvarghi’s handover.

The Ukrainian law enforcement agencies detained Lusvarghi in the fall of 2016. He was later sentenced to 13 years in prison for involvement in the military activities in Donbass. However, the sentence was overturned due to procedural errors and the Brazilian was released. He was seized by a group of Ukrainian nationalists in the spring of 2018, handed over to law enforcement agencies and once again handed a 13-year sentence.