Ukraine and Russia have made an unprecedented exchange of 70 prisoners, including the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, whose release was demanded by the international community, an event that could mark a first rapprochement after five years of conflict between the two. country.
The plane carrying the Ukrainians landed mid-day Saturday at the main airport of Kiev where dozens of relatives and President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed them on the tarmac. "We have taken the first step (...) We must do all the others not to put an end to this horrible war," the Ukrainian president told Kiev's Boryspil airport, in the presence of dozens of journalists. I congratulate everyone for the release of our heroes ".
The media Oleg Sentsov back in Ukraine
The most famous of the prisoners exchanged, Oleg Sentsov, 43, was arrested in 2014 in Crimea after protesting Russia's annexation of this Ukrainian peninsula. He was then sentenced to 20 years in a camp in the Russian Arctic region for "terrorist attacks". In 2018 he had carried out a 145-day high-profile hunger strike, which had given rise to many testimonies of support, particularly at the Cannes Film Festival.
Surveillance exchanges
Ukraine has released 58-year-old Volodymyr Tsemakh, a former military leader of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and key witness in the crash of flight MH17. The Netherlands had unsuccessfully urged Ukraine not to exchange a witness for Russia, according to the Foreign Ministry.
"We would have liked him to be available for the investigation," Brechtje van de Moosdijk, spokesperson for the MH17 inquiry group, told AFP on Thursday. Before being exchanged, Volodymyr Tsemakh was finally questioned by the Dutch investigators, however told AFP an informed source. Russian state television broadcast footage of Russian detainees flying from the plane to Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
"A sign of hope", rejoices Angela Merkel
This historic exchange has been hailed by the international community. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called it a "sign of hope," calling for further work to "implement the Minsk agreements," in a statement posted on Twitter by spokeswoman Steffen Seibert.
"Ein hoffnungsvolles Zeichen" - Kanzlerin #Merkel zum jüngsten #Gefangenenaustausch zwischen #Russland und der #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/sCAI1ODsuq
- Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) September 7, 2019Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday an upcoming "massive" exchange of prisoners between the two countries, without specifying a date, saying it would be "a big step towards the normalization of relations" between the two countries, after arriving at power in Ukraine of former comedian Zelensky in May. But Moscow had trouble agreeing with Kiev on the names of the prisoners who would be exchanged, he added.
A so-called "Normandy format" peace summit bringing together Ukrainian, Russian, German and French heads of state is expected to be held this month, for the first time since October 2015.