Russia exchanged Ukrainian prisoners it was supposed to deport

Over half of the civilians who Ukraine brought back during the prisoner swap from 23 to 25 May in a thousand-for-thousand format were convicted of criminal offences not related to the war.

Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne with reference to the organisation Protection for Prisoners of Ukraine 

Details: Russia and Ukraine conducted the prisoner swap in a thousand-for-thousand format: each side handed over 880 military personnel and 120 civilians.

According to Protection for Prisoners of Ukraine, over half of the civilians whom Ukraine brought back were convicted of criminal offences not related to the war.

At least 15 of them were prisoners who had been serving sentences in penal colonies in the temporarily occupied parts of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.

Another approximately 50 were Ukrainian citizens who had been living in Russia and had been convicted in various years.

After serving their sentences, the Russian authorities were supposed to deport them back to their homeland, but instead they were held indefinitely in detention centres for foreigners staying in Russia illegally.

"The Russians included them in this exchange, unexpectedly both for the Ukrainian authorities and for the prisoners themselves," Suspilne noted.

Quote from Suspilne: "Participants in the exchange shared how the Russians had offered them participation in the war in exchange for freedom and how they ended up at home without any documents, money or a clear understanding of what to do next."

Details: Oleh Tsvilyi, the head of the organisation Protection for Prisoners of Ukraine, explained that the Russians had handed over two categories of prisoners during the swap.

The first were those convicted and serving their sentences in colonies in Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts, which ended up under occupation.

The Russians took 1,800 prisoners from there during their retreat in November 2022. At present, only 380 people have been brought back to Ukraine. Fifteen convicts were included in the latest swap.

According to Tsvilyi, 12 of them are currently undergoing medical examinations. The remaining three had not served their full term and were immediately sent to pre-trial detention centres after the swap.

The second category consisted of former prisoners who had served their sentences in Russia for various crimes and were then stuck in deportation centres.

According to Tsvilyi, at least 50 of the released individuals fall into this category. The human rights defender believes the authorities had treated them irresponsibly.

Quote from Suspilne: "Tsvilyi admitted that this category of citizens is 'not entirely positive' and society is more expecting the return of prisoners of war, children or pro-Ukrainian activists."

Quote from Tsvilyi: "But these are also our citizens of Ukraine and they did not take up arms or go to fight against Ukraine! 

Some held on for two years, some for one year, maintained their pro-Ukrainian stance, did not accept their conditions and waited to be brought back. We must respect their decision. 

We have brought back Cossacks who will be of use in any case. I am confident that some of them will go on to defend the country. 

These people will definitely bring some benefit. So there is no need to spread panic! These are living people and they are our citizens. 

They have come back and let us hope the rest will come back as well."

Background: 

• Ukraine and Russia carried out the first part of the thousand-for-thousand exchange agreement, bringing back 390 people. Of these, 270 were military personnel and 120 were civilians.  
• Ukraine handed over 70 people to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange on 23 May, including Alexander Tarnashynsky, an associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician who is also known for his connections to Putin. Tarnashynsky was convicted of collaborating with Russian secret services.

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