Volodymyr Sleptsov, former mayor of Toretsk arrested for separatism, was to be handed over to the militants today as part of the prisoner exchange but decided not to return to the militants, according to Hromadske.
112.ua: Ex-mayor of Toretsk Sleptsov hid in journalists’ bus and decided not to return to militants
This handout picture taken and released on December 27, 2017, by the Ukrainian presidential press service shows Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) welcoming Ukrainian servicemen who had been made prisoners, after their release during a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels near the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels swapped hundreds of prisoners in the war-torn east of the country on Dec. 27, one of the largest such exchanges since the outbreak of an insurgency in 2014. The swap of captives on a dusty road close to the town of Gorlivka, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the rebels' stronghold of Donetsk is an attempt to revive a tattered peace deal between the Kiev army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
