UPDATE: European leaders hail prisoner exchange:
By RFE/RL
European leaders have hailed a long-awaited exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that enabled hundreds of former captives to return to their homes for the New Year holiday.
In the biggest exchange of prisoners since the war in eastern Ukraine began in 2014, officials said 238 separatists held by the Ukrainian government were handed over to separatist-controlled areas of Luhansk and Dontesk on December 27, while 74 captured soldiers and civilians were released by the separatists into government hands.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the exchange as an "important humanitarian gesture before the New Year and Orthodox Christmas."
The European leaders and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which supervised the exchange, urged the two sides to use momentum from the swap to work toward a broader peace in the region.
The "exchange is not only a humanitarian act, but also a helpful step in confidence-building," said Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissi, the organization's chairman.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko greeted the prisoners freed by the separatists in the town of Horlivka near the front lines of the conflict and praised their endurance.
"I'm grateful to all those who remained loyal to Ukraine in those unbearable conditions," Poroshenko said. "They have shown their adherence to the principles of freedom and independence."
This ends our live blogging for December 27. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.