Hostage list consists of 240 Ukrainians, separatists falsify info

However, the militants intentionally provided false numbers and demanded the release of militants suspected of committing serious crimes, said MP Iryna Herashchenko, representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup in the trilateral contact group on settling the conflict. "The list was handed [over to the militants] with the demand for the release of [the hostages]. In turn, the second party intentionally lowered the number of illegally kept people on the list, Herashchenko said on Facebook. She noted Russia pretends that freeing 11 Ukrainians, including filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and military pilot Nadia Savchenko, illegally jailed in Russia has nothing to do with it, despite international pressure.. According to the MP, the militants demanded the release of the criminals captured outside the conflict zone, who were arrested for committing serious crimes, including terrorist attacks. "Russia and its puppets even speak about the law on amnesty," Herashchenko said, adding that Ukraine’s parliament had indeed adopted an amnesty law, but those who committed serious crimes (murders, terrorist attacks, sexual offenses), were not eligible for amnesty. Despite the difficulties in freeing the hostages, the Security Service, the Defence Ministry, volunteers, and humanitarian subgroup within the trilateral contact group continue to work together, Herashchenko noted. "Also, the president during all his international negotiations raises this question, the point of the Minsk agreements, which aren't fulfilled by Russia and its militants, making it the priority issue," Herashchenko said. She went on to say that for over a month, attempts have been made to make the militants grant access to the hostages for the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect the conditions in which Ukrainians, who are forced into hard work and tortured, are kept.