A Russian plane with the people Russia wanted from Ukraine landed at Vnukovo airport outside Moscow around half past one, and just minutes later, a Ukrainian plane with released Ukrainians landed at Borispol airport outside Kiev.
Among the released Ukrainians were all 24 sailors captured by Russia during a military confrontation in the narrow strait that separates Russia from the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has annexed. Also the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who in 2014 was arrested by Russian forces and sentenced to twenty years in prison, is one of the released.
"Highest priority"Of those released by Ukraine, two people are the most interesting. One was former head of the Russian news agency RIA novosti in Kiev. The second is a man who was probably directly involved when a Russian robot shot down the Malaysian passenger plane over separatist controlled territory in eastern Ukraine in the summer of 2014.
The change of pace was a big success for Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelenskyj, who for months has said that his highest priority was to bring home prisoners from Russia. But whether the exchange also opens up further negotiations to put an end to the war in eastern Ukraine and to allow Russia to return Crimea is extremely questionable.