Prisoner-Exchange Organizer Detained Near East Ukraine War Zone
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
An NGO head who has negotiated exchanges of captives in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Ruban, has been detained by Ukrainian authorities on suspicion of smuggling, authorities said.
Ruban was detained late on March 8 while allegedly trying to smuggle a large amount of weapons and ammunition from the area held by Russia-backed separatists, Heorhiy Tuka, deputy minister for temporarily occupied territories, wrote on Facebook.
According to Tuka, Ruban pretended to be an ordinary citizen trying to move from the separatist-held region into government-controlled territory and had the firearms and ammunition hidden among furniture.
Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko later confirmed that Ruban was detained and said he was apprehended "not by chance," hinting that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had been following his activities for some time.
Ruban's Center For The Release Of POWs has been involved in prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists since 2014, when the conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted.
In the past, Ruban was involved in the activities of Ukrainian Choice, an organization that many in Ukraine consider pro-Kremlin.
In February, 2017, Ukraine's Border Service and the SBU accused Ruban of violating regulations for entering territory under the separatists' control.
The war in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 10,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands since April 2014, when it began after Russia fomented unrest following the ouster of Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych.
We are now closing the live blog for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow morning to follow all the latest developments. Until then, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.