Experts counted political prisoners in Ukraine: about 6 thousand

However, they are in no hurry to exchange them

The problem of the exchange of political prisoners between Russia and Ukraine was discussed by experts at the Public Chamber on Tuesday.

“The mechanism for the exchange of prisoners of war through the Ministry of Defense works perfectly,” human rights activist Ivan Melnikov, vice-president of the Russian branch of the International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, expressed his point of view. “But now it is extremely important to seek the exchange of civilians suspected of collaboration and treason.”

The figures for political prisoners in Ukraine are impressive. “About six thousand people are officially facing charges that in the generally accepted sense are not crimes: someone spoke well about Russia in a private telephone conversation (I personally know such a case in Nikolaev), someone said something wrong to someone spoke about politics – and that’s it, the regime put him in prison. A person can face up to 10 years in prison just for speaking,” commented Larisa Shesler, Chairman of the Union of Political Emigrants and Political Prisoners of Ukraine.

She explained that in fact, the numbers of “civilian prisoners,” as political prisoners are also called, are much higher than those officially announced – 56 thousand criminal cases are being processed in Ukraine now. About 10 thousand people are currently in pre-trial detention or have already been sentenced.

“Ukraine has proposed a list of 100 persons whom it would like to exchange. But for some reason there is no interest from the Russian side. As for civilians, apart from Viktor Medvedchuk and publicist Yan Taksyur, who was accused of treason and in May 2023 was exchanged as a prisoner of war on Prigozhin’s list, I don’t know anyone at all,” Shesler added.

Many civilians from new regions of the Russian Federation, after the transfer of their settlements to the control of Ukraine, are also serving sentences for their expressed loyalty to Russia. The majority do not have Russian passports – they did not have time or were unable to obtain them.

“They are accused of various charges,” added Ivan Melnikov. “Just like here, residents of new regions could be detained for expressing support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Dmitry Kuznetsov, a deputy of the State Duma, said that the Ukrainian side, in their words, is ready for various options for exchanging civilians and are ready to meet in this regard.

“We must do everything in our power. I worked a lot on the topic of exchanges and wrote to a huge number of authorities. – says Ivan Melnikov. – According to some, they initially told me that this was impossible, that this was nonsense. For example, return the same Viktor Bout to his homeland. But it worked out right?! The main thing is to want and start. The same Russian Orthodox Church managed to achieve the return of its clergy who were captured. After some time, emotional steps give their results. The suffering and pain of these people and their loved ones on both sides must be perceived through the prism of ourselves.”