The Opposition Platform - For Life (OCPL) party has declared the illegality of the possible exchange of one of its leaders, Viktor Medvedchuk, for Ukrainians in Russian prisons.
“Having launched the flywheel of political repression, the Ukrainian government cannot stop.
The statements and actions of its representatives go further and further beyond the framework of the Constitution, the principles of democracy and common sense, ”the party's statement posted on its official website says.
Thus, the PLO responded to the resonant statement of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Alexei Danilov that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is free to decide on the extradition of Medvedchuk to Moscow.
The official said this on the evening of May 14 on the air of the program "Freedom of Speech by Savik Shuster", answering the question of whether it is possible to exchange "traitors of Ukraine from the PLOZH" for "Ukrainian patriots" who are being held in prisons in the Russian Federation.
“This decision on the exchange is made by the President of Ukraine.
I think that if there is such an opportunity, we will willingly do it, ”Danilov said.
"Political hostages"
On May 11, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova signed to Medvedchuk and his fellow party member Taras Kozak suspicions of high treason and attempted plunder of national resources.
There are three episodes in the criminal proceedings.
It is alleged that Medvedchuk allegedly assisted Moscow in obtaining an oil and gas field in Crimea and passed on secret information to the Russian Federation about the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the development of the Luch project for recruiting Ukrainian migrants in Russia.
On May 13, Medvedchuk was placed under house arrest until July 9.
Viktor Medvedchuk at a meeting of the Pechersk Court of Kiev on the selection of a preventive measure for him
RIA News
Commenting on suspicions in his address, the politician said that he did not feel guilty about anything and was ready to defend himself.
The OPLZ considers the criminal prosecution of a party member as a new stage of "political repression" by Zelensky and his team.
“Already the first hearings on the so-called“ Medvedchuk case ”showed the complete absence of evidence and the fabricated nature of the charges.
But representatives of the regime are not embarrassed by this.
They continue to put pressure on the court, make plans to kill the opposition.
They are trying to turn them into political hostages, ”the HLE said.
In the Russian Federation, Danilov's statement has not yet been commented on.
Earlier in Moscow, suspicions of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine regarding Medvedchuk were considered far-fetched.
During a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the criminal proceedings against the politician clearing the political field of the neighboring republic.
“The decisions are clearly political and selective, aimed only at one thing - to clean up the political field from those forces that advocate a peaceful resolution of the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, in the Donbass, and for good-neighborly relations with Russia,” Putin said.
Experts interviewed by RT do not exclude that Kiev, after a conviction, may indeed offer Moscow to transfer Medvedchuk.
In their opinion, Zelensky's team is interested in reducing the opposition's influence on the political life of Ukraine.
“So far, Medvedchuk cannot be handed over to Russia in any way - he is not yet a convicted person, but such a scenario is possible.
It is beneficial for Zelensky to make him a political migrant, thereby reducing competition for his person and the current government as a whole, "Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Policy Management, explained in a commentary to RT.
"Image step"
In an interview with RT, Boris Mezhuev, an associate professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, said that, along with the weakening of Medvedchuk's position in Ukraine, Zelensky, with the help of the exchange discourse, expects to achieve the extradition of "patriots" who are serving sentences in the Russian Federation.
As follows from official information, in recent years, Russian security agencies have detained a number of representatives of radical nationalist groups and agents of the Ukrainian special services.
Thus, on April 9, 2019, Igor Pirozhok, a member of the Right Sector *, also known under the pseudonym Roman Chirka, was detained in the Moscow region on suspicion of extremism.
Member of the "Right Sector" * Igor Pirozhok
© FSB RF
Russian law enforcement officers caught him in the creation of a detachment "Horthy" ("Greyhounds") to wage a guerrilla war against the Russian Federation and to provide material and technical assistance to pro-Ukrainian formations to commit crimes in Russia and the Donbass.
In February 2020, Pirozhok was found guilty under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization and justifying terrorist activities.
The court sentenced the radical to four years in a general regime colony.
In October 2020, in Adygea, the organizer of the conspiratorial cell of the "Right Sector" named Babko was sentenced to five years.
While serving time in correctional colony No. 2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service, he recruited prisoners, involving them in extremist activities.
In April 2021, in Norilsk, Russian law enforcement officers detained a 31-year-old citizen of Ukraine, who, according to the investigation, was recruiting into the ranks of the Right Sector to participate in sabotage operations on the territory of the DPR.
In April 2021, the verdict of the Krasnodar Regional Court against the citizen of Ukraine Oleksandr Marchenko for espionage in favor of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine came into force.
Kiev instructed the agent to purchase spare parts from the Russian Federation used in the S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems and transfer them to the Ukroboronservis company.
“If the Ukrainian authorities still decide to carry out the exchange, then it should be more or less equivalent.
According to this logic, Medvedchuk should be recognized by the court as a "spy" of the Russian Federation.
Then Kiev hypothetically can claim to "return" its radicals and agents, "Boris Mezhuev suggested.
Ukraine already has experience of interaction with Moscow, within the framework of which it transferred its citizens to the Russian Federation and received Ukrainians convicted of serious crimes.
For example, in September 2019, as a result of an exchange according to the 35: 35 formula, director Oleg Sentsov arrived in Kiev, sentenced to 20 years for terrorism in Crimea.
Together with Sentsov, his accomplice Alexander Kolchenko, Crimean Tatar activist Edem Bekirov, convicted in the Russian Federation for terrorism and espionage, Roman Sushchenko (in 2018 he was found guilty of working for the special services of Ukraine) and other Ukrainians who served time in Russian colonies, including sailors detained during the incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.
Not only convicted Russians were sent to Moscow by plane, but also citizens of Ukraine - the former head of the Ukrainian division of RIA Novosti Kirill Vyshinsky and the militia Volodymyr Tsemakh.
Kirill Vyshinsky (center) descends from the Russian Tu-204 aircraft at Vnukovo airport
RIA News
© Ilya Pitalev
According to a RT source in the Office of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky really intends to “return” to the country the maximum number of nationalists and spies convicted in the Russian Federation.
In this way, the head of state hopes to come to terms with the radical street, which constantly suspects him of “betraying” national interests, the politician said.
“This is especially true for the military and nationalists.
The return of prisoners is seen as a strong image step and a way to raise the rating.
However, there is a risk that this time the plan will not be implemented, since Medvedchuk may file lawsuits with international authorities and with a high degree of probability win these cases, ”the source said.
In turn, a RT source in the Ukrainian government emphasized that any schemes for transferring Ukrainian citizens to the Russian Federation contradict the country's legislation and common sense.
“Ukraine is probably the only country in the world that is ready to extradite its citizens to the state, which it officially calls the“ aggressor ”.
There is nothing legal about this.
Everyone understands that Zelensky is getting rid of disloyal citizens.
Western partners are puzzled by this wild situation, but so far they are turning a blind eye to it, ”says the interlocutor of RT.
Ukrainian political scientist Alexander Semchenko also called the illegal practice in which Kiev can transfer its own citizens to any foreign state.
In a commentary on RT, he said that neither Zelensky, nor the NSDC, nor any other department have legal grounds for this.
“Yes, there is such a practice of exchanges.
It allows Ukrainians, disliked by the regime, to start a safe life in Russia, but it contradicts Ukrainian legislation.
The Kiev authorities have no right to do this, as well as to impose sanctions against their own citizens, as happened with Kozak and Medvedchuk, "Semchenko explained.
According to him, after 2014, the Kiev authorities regularly initiate "absurd criminal cases" against citizens opposed to the "Euromaidan", including for the purpose of subsequent exchange with Russia.
“Unfortunately, we can state that through political repression Kiev is forming a kind of exchange fund from its own citizens.
Apparently, it was Medvedchuk's turn.
Although to change Ukrainians to Ukrainians is a complete absurdity, ”concluded Semchenko.
*
"Right Sector" - a Ukrainian association of radical nationalist organizations, recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 11/17/2014).