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| Ukraine crisis: Rebels 'free 1,200 captives' - Poroshenko | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine have released 1,200 prisoners, President Petro Poroshenko has said. | |
| The releases followed Friday's ceasefire deal, he said, which included an exchange of prisoners. | |
| He was speaking during a visit to the strategic south-eastern port city of Mariupol, which has come under shelling from pro-Russian rebels in recent days. | |
| Mr Poroshenko announced his arrival in a tweet: "Mariupol is Ukraine. We will not surrender this land to anyone." | |
| Before the truce came into place, pro-Russian separatists made big gains in eastern Ukraine and seized territory a few miles outside Mariupol. | |
| However, despite some sporadic shooting, the ceasefire appears to be holding. | |
| Fighting in the east has killed some 2,600 people since April. | |
| Mr Poroshenko said that "over the past four days, we have managed to secure the release of 1,200 of our captives", according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, | |
| The announcement came after a ceasefire was reached in Minsk, Belarus, in talks brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). | |
| The negotiations involved former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, leaders of the pro-Russian rebels, and a Russian delegate. | |
| Mr Poroshenko appealed on Monday for the OSCE to send representatives to areas where the ceasefire has been broken. |