pThe Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists on December 27 carried out the largest exchange of prisoners since 2014 near the town of Horlivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as part of the Minsk agreement.ppUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko tweeteda that 74 detainees had been returned to Kiev-controlled territory and praiseda the roles of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in facilitating the swap. The Facebook page for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko later shared videos of the president greeting returning prisoners.ppThe Russian Interfax news agency reporteda that 233 captives were transferred by the Kiev government to separatist-controlled territory, though the Kiev Posta put that number at 237.ppAccording to the Kiev Post, 29 prisoners refused to return to the separatist-controlled side and another “40 who had already served their sentence and were released did not show up for the swap.