Militants in Donbas until now keep about 500 Ukrainian citizens as hostages, out of these, there are six journalists.
SBU Adviser Markiyan Lubkivsky told a briefing, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"Today, approximately about 500 our fellow countrymen are in the hands of militants," he said.
According to him, among the captured persons there are also six journalists.
In addition, Lubkivsky said that over three recent weeks since the moment of signing of the Minsk agreements, 508 captives were released.
At the same time, he noted that currently, a process of the return of hostages is complicated by terrorists.
"This process goes with difficulty, because it is hampered by militants in any way," he stressed.