Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels have swapped hundreds of prisoners in the war-torn east of the country, one of the largest such exchanges since the outbreak of an insurgency almost four years ago. The swap of captives on a dusty road close to the town of Gorlivka, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the rebels’ stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday was an attempt to revive a tattered peace deal between the Kiev army and rebels from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The war in the former Soviet republic broke out in April 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea the previous month.
