Russia considers exchanging prisoners for Ukrainian tycoons

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 Russia is considering exchanging prisoners of Ukraine's Azov Battalion for Viktor Medvedchuk, a tycoon believed to have close ties to Russia.


"We will study this possibility," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia's negotiating delegation to Ukraine, as speaking in the separatist city of Donetsk in southeastern Ukraine on Thursday. /5.


Viktor Medvedchuk, 67, a tycoon and leader of the largest opposition party in Ukraine, is suspected of having close ties to Russia. He is also one of the richest people in Ukraine.


Mr. Medvedchuk has held many positions in Ukrainian politics since the 1990s, such as Chief of Staff to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma from 2002-2005. Medvedchuk also played an important role in peace talks between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists in the east when fighting here broke out since 2014.


Last year, he was charged with treason by Kiev on a series of charges, including selling military secrets to Russia and aiding terrorism. Ukrainian authorities placed Mr. Medvedchuk under house arrest from the very first day Russia launched its military operation in the country in late February, but just a few days later, he escaped and has remained anonymous ever since. until he was arrested by the Ukrainian Secret Service on April 12.


Immediately after the announcement of Mr. Medvedchuk's arrest, the Ukrainian side proposed a prisoner exchange with Russia, in which Medvedchuk would be exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia. However, Moscow rejected the offer. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that Medvedchuk had no connection with Russia's military campaign to "demilitarize" Ukraine.


Ukraine's National Security Committee (SBU) in April released a video in which Medvedchuk asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to exchange him for the defense forces and the people of Ukraine. in the city of Mariupol.


On May 21, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that all soldiers who had been sheltering inside the Azovstal iron and steel plant in the city of Mariupol had surrendered to Russian forces. Russia said the number of soldiers surrendered reached more than 2,000. The injured were treated at the hospital, while the rest were taken to a prison in Donetsk.


The fate of the soldiers at Azovstal is unknown, although Kiev says it is trying to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Moscow. Zelensky said that the country's intelligence services were closely monitoring the process of the withdrawal of Ukrainian defense forces from Azovstal as well as the preparation for negotiations.


Among the Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces were members of the Azov Battalion, which is a nationalist militia in Ukraine. The Azov Battalion joined the Ukrainian National Guard and became the main force against the Russian army in the city of Mariupol.


On May 26, Russia's Supreme Court is expected to consider a proposal to designate the Azov Battalion as a "terrorist organization". The move could further complicate prisoner exchanges between the two countries.

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