“We don’t leave our own”: in Russia they began to develop a procedure for the exchange of civilian prisoners

Thousands of ordinary Ukrainians convicted of sympathy for Russia

Although today’s conference was called “We do not leave our own: how to rescue civilian prisoners from prisons in Ukraine”, all speakers agreed that it is too early to talk about the imminent development of a mechanism for the exchange of civilians with Ukraine. However, an important step in this direction has already been taken.

During the conference, State Duma deputy Dmitry Kuznetsov noted that civilians who helped the Russian military and suffered for their beliefs deserve to be helped out of Ukrainian prisons. Also, due to humanitarian considerations, according to him, it is necessary to facilitate the release of those who were unjustly convicted in Ukraine for political reasons.

Now the development of a procedure for the exchange of civilian prisoners is at the start. At the moment, Kuznetsov said, the Ukrainian side is “ready to act, and further steps must be taken by Russia.” The parliamentarian urged to join the work of the ROC. An important issue is the compilation of complete lists of prisoners in Ukraine.

Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, who himself was once in a Ukrainian prison, also drew attention to the lack of accurate data on the number of people and clarity about the exchange procedure itself. The main thing now is getting information and coordinating the lists. Vyshinsky warned, referring to personal experience, that it was impossible to treat the Ukrainian side in this matter with complete confidence, and warned against exaggerated expectations. According to him, many political prisoners in Ukraine sit for a term of 15 years or more, and the trials are not adversarial and closed.

Political scientist Rostyslav Ishchenko recalled: earlier it was possible to release people from prisons in Ukraine without approvals and any new mechanisms. According to him, as soon as there was a desire, an opportunity arose. In order to achieve the necessary results this time, Ishchenko proposed appointing those responsible for organizing the exchange procedures from Russian departments, for example, the Foreign Ministry or the FSB.

Ishchenko also warned of the danger of the liquidation of political prisoners in prisons by the Kyiv regime in anticipation of the imminent fall. In the exchange, in his opinion, there is one more aspect – it is necessary not only to take out civilian prisoners from Ukraine, but also to demonstrate them to the world. “Can you imagine what will happen if we get 20 thousand from Ukrainian prisons alone?” – said the political scientist.

The chairman of the Union of Political Emigrants and Political Prisoners of Ukraine Larisa Shesler said: only in the Nikolaev pre-trial detention center there are hundreds of prisoners who are tried on political articles. But there are no active politicians there – mostly ordinary people. 25% of the lists are women, more than 2/3 of them are elderly. These are political prisoners. But there are also civilian prisoners accused of assisting the Russian army.

In all regional centers of Ukraine, the leaders of the Immortal Regiment, public figures, teachers, representatives of the Orthodox Church were arrested. Shesler noted that more than a hundred priests are under investigation.

The main task now, in her opinion, is the creation of lists of political prisoners and civilian prisoners. It is also necessary to cover the topic, to involve international organizations, including the international communist movement, since, Shesler said, representatives of the left forces are the main targets and victims of the Kyiv regime.

Journalist and former political prisoner Pavel Volkov is one of the inspirers of the event. According to him, people in Ukraine now practically cannot defend themselves in court, since there are almost no lawyers left who are ready to participate in such cases. He recalled the law on collaborators adopted by Kiev, the concepts of which are interpreted too broadly. Under this article, 5,400 proceedings are currently underway in Ukraine and 500 sentences have been issued.