A large exchange of prisoners will take place between Ukraine and Russia by the end of August – media
Until the end of August, Russia and Ukraine can exchange detained and convicted persons. It is likely that the Ukrainian sailors detained last fall during the incident in the Kerch Strait will return home, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The Russian Kommersant writes about this with reference to its own sources.
According to the publication, Russia and Ukraine have reached the final stage of agreeing on the exchange.
“According to him (source - Ed.), the lists for exchange are now being clarified. At the same time, according to him, not only Ukrainian sailors detained last fall in the Kerch Strait can return to Ukraine. Kommersant’s interlocutor, surrounded by the President of Ukraine, claims that the agreement on the exchange was reached after the first telephone conversation between the presidents of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which took place on July 11,” writes Kommersant.
According to the publication, the exchange may take place before the end of August. First of all, we are talking about Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait.
“Kommersant’s interlocutor, who knows about the progress of the exchange negotiations, said that the two sides are currently agreeing on the lists of these persons. To Kommersant’s clarifying question whether we are talking about all those detained during the Kerch incident, he answered in the affirmative. At the same time, he admitted that in addition to the sailors, other persons could be transferred to Ukraine. Whether the issue of transferring convicted director Oleg Sentsov, sentenced in Russia to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges, is being considered, the interlocutor found it difficult to answer,” the publication writes.
At the same time, the source of the Russian publication refused to specify who the Ukrainian side would hand over. The answer to this question is given by a publication on the website of the Ukrainian human rights group “Uspishna Varta”.
The publication says that the Ukrainians Khitrova, Bobovu and Moldovan citizen Melnichuk, accused of treason, were taken from the Odessa pre-trial detention center for exchange to Kyiv, which was reported to the human rights activists of Uspishna Varta by the wife of the accused, Galina Melnichuk. According to her, the Ukrainians were released and their sanctions were changed at the request of the GPU. In the courtroom, the prosecutor said this was done in connection with an exchange.
It is also reported that lists for exchange were provided by Russia, and the fourth person involved in the Pikalov case was returned to the pre-trial detention center.
It should be noted that Elena Bobova, Valery Pikalov, Denis Khitrov and Moldovan citizen Pyotr Melnichuk were detained in March 2017 in Odessa on suspicion of creating a spy network. According to investigators, Bobova, Khitrov, Pikalov and Melnichuk recruited a number of employees of strategic enterprises and military units in southern Ukraine and collected official information. They also monitored military facilities and the movement of Ukrainian Armed Forces forces, and also collected information about activists in the Odessa region.
These persons in Ukraine are accused of committing crimes under Part 3 of Art. 28, part 1 art. 111 and part 1 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - “High treason” and “Illegal handling of weapons.” For two years, these charges were never considered in essence, and all this time the judges in the case changed.
The head of the Russian Center for Current Political Affairs, Alexey Chesnakov, who is associated with Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov, also expressed hopes for a quick successful completion of the exchange on his social network page.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an exchange of detainees in the coming weeks. And sailors too,” he wrote today.
At the same time, sources of the Ukrainian telegram channel “Legitimny” are skeptical about the likelihood of transferring all sailors to Ukraine by the end of August.
“In the coming weeks, some of the sailors or some of the convicts about whom we wrote may be released. It will be somewhere between 8-15 people from Russia. Everyone is waiting for the meeting on Kirill Vyshinsky. Many of our media, citing their sources, report that he will be exchanged. Our source refutes this information. Vyshinsky should be allowed to go home, and subsequently the case will fall apart, since there will be no relevance to it. They are waiting for the court hearing on September 16,” the telegram channel said.
According to Legitimny’s source, an exchange is now being prepared between the DPR and Ukraine according to the formula 102 to 50. But Kirill Vyshinsky is not yet on the list for exchange.
English version :: Read in English A large exchange of prisoners will take place between Ukraine and Russia by the end of August – media