Seven international military observers taken captive in eastern Ukraine a week ago have been released.
Five Ukrainian officers captured with the observers, who are linked to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, were also freed.
Pro-Russian separatists in the town of Sloviansk say they released the OSCE observers "without conditions".
The news came as Ukraine's government said it had resumed military action to tackle the separatists in the east.
Russia, accused by the West of being behind the unrest, says it "no longer has any influence" over the separatists.
'Inexcusable'Both the OSCE and Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, a leader of the insurgency in the east, confirmed the releases.
A second day of military operations is under way to try to reassert central control here in eastern Ukraine and in particular in the city of Sloviansk, which has become the stronghold of pro-Russian groups.
Ukraine's interior minister has been saying "we will not stop" - suggesting that, unlike in the past when Ukrainian troops have moved in and then withdrawn, these operations will continue.
The interior ministry is also very angry that Moscow has been talking of Kiev carrying out "punitive actions" in the east and that it has been firing on civilians. The government in Ukraine is anxious that it does not give any pretext for Russia to send in its troops. That pretext would be that civilians - Russian-speaking citizens - were in danger and needed protection.
Pro-Russian groups have spoken again of needing peacekeeping troops. That would include Russians coming in to protect civilians - obviously something Kiev wants to avoid.
"As I promised them, we celebrated my birthday yesterday and they left. As I said, they were my guests," Mr Ponomaryov said.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Donetsk says there is no detail yet on how or why they were freed - a spokeswoman for the pro-Russian groups told the BBC she had no comment on that.
Russia's RIA news agency quoted Vladimir Lukin, the envoy sent by President Vladimir Putin, as saying 12 people had been freed.
Mr Putin's spokesman in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, said: "From now on Russia essentially has lost its influence over these people because it will be impossible to convince them to lay down arms when there's a direct threat to their lives."
Russia had sent an envoy to aid the release of the observers.
One of them, German Col Axel Schneider, told Associated Press news agency the team had "a very good attitude and that gave them the strength to stand the situation".
Western leaders had condemned the abductions.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama again called for the observers to be released, saying their abduction was "inexcusable" and "disgraceful".
The observers - four Germans, a Dane, a Pole and a Czech - are not part of the main OSCE monitoring mission, which was agreed after long negotiations by Russia, Ukraine and the US.
They are instead unarmed military observers from individual OSCE states.
Ukraine's government meanwhile confirmed a second day of military operations in the east.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the "active phase of the operation continued at dawn", with Ukrainian forces taking a television tower in Kramatorsk, which is about 17km (10 miles) from the pro-Russian separatists' stronghold of Sloviansk.
"We are not stopping," Mr Avakov wrote on his Facebook page.
Our correspondent says she spoke to residents of the area last night and was told some in Kramatorsk had gone out to try to stop armoured personnel carriers from entering.
She says the defence ministry also reported "serious fighting" last night in Andreevka, some 6km west of Sloviansk.
The ministry said pro-Russian separatists had attacked the armed forces and two Ukrainian soldiers were killed. Pro-Russian groups confirmed this, but also said there had been civilian casualties. There is no confirmation.
The operations come a day after running battles between pro-Kiev groups and separatists in the south-western city of Odessa, which culminated in the fire at the Trade Unions House that left at least 36 dead.
Officials said some people were overwhelmed by smoke and others died after they jumped from the building.
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Footage shows people trying to escape the building in Odessa on Friday
The exact sequence of events is unclear, but reports suggest pro-Russian separatists had barricaded themselves inside the building and both sides were throwing petrol bombs.
The deaths sparked another war of words involving the West Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Danylo Lubkivsky told the BBC that Russia was behind the violence.
On Saturday, Mr Peskov said: "Kiev and its Western sponsors are practically provoking the bloodshed and bear direct responsibility for it."
Local police chief Petro Lutsiuk told Reuters news agency on Saturday that more than 130 people had been arrested following the violence in Odessa.
Are you in Odessa or eastern Ukraine? How have you been affected by the recent violence? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'Ukraine unrest'.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
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