Kidnapped Russian soldiers will be exchanged for a Crimean explosives enthusiast
Russian soldiers Maxim Odintsov and Alexander Baranov, kidnapped by Ukrainian special services on the border with Crimea, will be exchanged for Crimean citizen Vladimir Balukha, convicted of possession of explosives.
Crimean Ombudsman Lyudmila Lubina stated this on the First Crimean TV channel.
“I think we will change them for all sorts of adherents. Such as Balukh, who is almost a hero of Ukraine. Let him be at least twice a hero of Ukraine, but we will exchange him for our Odintsov and Baranov,” Lubina said.
She recalled that Odintsov and Baranov will serve their sentences in a Western Ukrainian colony.
“The servicemen were caught in no man's land. There was a special operation there. This is an outrageous case. They were sentenced to 13 and 14 years in prison and sent to the Lvov pre-trial detention center. My heart hurts for these people. It’s clear what attitude will be towards them in Western Ukraine,” Lubina said.
The Russian soldiers were kidnapped in November 2016 , and Balukh was sentenced by a Crimean court in January 2017 to 3,7 years in prison.
Kidnapped Russian soldiers to be exchanged for Crimean explosives enthusiast