Revealing the possibility of exchanging prisoners of Azov battalion with pro-Russian tycoons

“We will study this possibility,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of the negotiating team of the Russian Federation as saying. Russia on Ukraine, speaking in the breakaway city of Donetsk in southeastern Ukraine on May 21.

Viktor Medvedchuk, 67, is a politician and one of Ukraine’s richest people, and is known for his close ties to Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said that Medvedchuk was detained by Ukrainian authorities during a “special operation”.

Notice of the tycoon’s arrest in April, President Zelensky posted a photo of Medvedchuk handcuffed and tired looking on Telegram, with the caption: “A special operation has been carried out thanks to the Security Service of Ukraine SBU. Congratulations!”.

Before Russia launched a military operation on February 24, Medvedchuk was already facing treason charges in Ukraine and was placed under house arrest. This person fled the house but was recaptured in mid-April.

On May 20, the Russian military announced that the last soldiers of the Azov battalion and Ukrainian forces were hiding in the area. Azovstal steel plantthe strategic port city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, surrendered after weeks of resistance.

Ukrainian officials have made it clear that they expect captured soldiers to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. However, many soldiers of the Azov battalion are extremists accused of many war crimes by Russia.

A draft law was submitted to the Russian parliament on May 17 that classifies the Azov battalion as a terrorist organization. A similar request was submitted by the Prosecutor General’s Office to the Supreme Court of Russia. On May 26, Russia’s Supreme Court is expected to consider the request.

If passed, the draft would open a legal avenue for prosecution of all Azov members for standing in the ranks of the unit rather than for specific crimes. And if approved, the exchange of prisoners could be more complicated.

The Azov Battalion is officially part of the National Guard Ukraine.