Freed Prisoners Arrive In Ukraine, Russia In Swap Hailed As 'First Step' Toward Ending War

Freed Prisoners Arrive In Ukraine, Russia In Swap Hailed As 'First Step' Toward Ending War

The exchange brings peace talks between the neighboring countries closer, analysts say.


Welcoming home former Ukraine prisoners of Russia at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv.

9/7/19
KYIV/MOSCOW -- Russia and Ukraine have exchanged a total of 70 prisoners in a move praised by the West as an opportunity to improve tense relations between Kyiv and Moscow. The September 7 exchange marks a seemingly rare breakthrough that observers say could pave the way for fresh talks on ending a five-year war between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a jubilant afternoon crowd greeted the 35 freed Ukrainians on the tarmac at Boryspil International Airport. They included Oleh Sentsov, an outspoken filmmaker convicted by Russian on dubious terrorism charges after its invasion of Crimea, and the 24 Ukrainian sailors captured last year by Russia near the Kerch Strait. Standing next to the plane, Zelenskiy called it a "first step" toward ending the conflict and "the first chapter" in new relations with Russia. In Moscow, the 35 freed individuals included RIA Novosti journalist Kirill Vyshinsky and Ukrainian national Volodymyr Tsemakh, a "person of interest" to international investigations into the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shoot-down that killed 298 people in 2014. Tsemakh's release was seen as particularly sensitive because of that investigation and his command role in an air-defense unit of Russia-backed separatists at the time of the MH17 disaster. Kurt Volker, the U.S. special peace envoy to Ukraine, expressed hope the prisoner swap could spur talks on ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where more than 13,000 people have died in fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces since April 2014.

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Heady stuff. A fantastic and long awaited event. Even so, we have to tap the brakes a bit here. At least 87 Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian political prisoners remain in prisons within Russia and occupied Crimea. There are also POW's being held in eastern Ukraine. Although Zelenskyy campaigned for and was elected on a platform of ending official corruption, returning Ukrainians incarcerated in Russia to Ukraine, and ending the now five year war, significant hurdles remain. Towards those ends, the people of Ukraine have let Zelenskyy know in no uncertain terms that he must not cross any "red-lines" in negotiating with Russia. Crimea must be returned to Ukraine and all Russian forces and Russian weaponry must be withdrawn from eastern Ukraine. Those are the red-lines Zelenskyy must adhere to. Two weeks ago, Putin stated that Vladislav Surkov will now be the top Kremlin official at the peace talks in Minsk,Belarus. This is significant. Surkov is Putin's Gray Cardinal and he has been in charge of the Ukraine war portfolio for the past four years. Surkov will undoubtedly put forth demands on Kyiv, such as eastern Ukraine must be granted greater autonomy, and Ukraine cannot join the EU or NATO. Such demands or expectations are totally unacceptable. Sovereign nations decide such questions for themselves. And let us not forget that Russia is the aggressor nation here. In 2014 Putin made the decision to invade and illegally annex the Ukraine oblast of Crimea, and also invade portions of Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts in the Donbas region. This has resulted in 13,000+ dead, 25,000+ wounded, 1.5 million displaced, 715 missing, and incalculable damages to Ukrainian structures and environment. Russia has also denied Ukraine the use of its ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, and denied Ukraine possession of its EEZ around Crimea which includes significant oil/gas fields under the Black Sea. I suppose the key question is how badly does Putin desire sanctions on Russia removed and a raproachment with the United States and the West?

Related: Signaling Readiness for Thaw, Russia and Ukraine Swap Prisoners

Ukraine got 35 people back. Hundreds remain in captivity

The above link is about Ukraine/Tatar political prisoners that remain in Russian custody.