ALONA MAZURENKO, “UKRAINSKA PRAVDA” – MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2022, 05:44
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to free Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian traitor [with family ties to Putin – ed.], from Ukrainian captivity in response to the pleas of Oksana Marchenko, Medvedchuk’s wife, and despite the objections of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation [commonly known as the FSB from its abbreviation in Russian – ed.].
Source: Ukrainska Pravda’s reporting for an article on Ukraine and Russia’s recent prisoner swap
Details: Sources close to Medvedchuk who have remained in Ukraine told Ukrainska Pravda that Putin has responded to Marchenko’s pleas and has promised her that he would obtain her husband’s freedom.
Marchenko, who fled to Russia after Medvedchuk’s arrest, recorded several dramatic videos asking for help to free her husband.
She appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather to her daughter, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A source on Bankova St [a street in Kyiv where a lot of the government buildings are located – ed.] told Ukrainska Pravda that Putin even keeps his own spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, at arm’s length. As a result, even official spokespersons in Russia might not be aware of what the dictator is thinking or doing.
Quote from the source: “Do you really think Peskov or Lavrov [Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Defence – ed.] have access to Putin? They only see him from afar during meetings. You have to understand that the only two people that Putin allows near him are [Nikolai] Patrushev, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, and his friend [Yuri] Kovlachuk.”
Background:
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As part of prisoner swap with the Russian occupiers, Ukraine has succeeded in freeing 215 Ukrainian defenders, including 10 foreigners. The Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, to whose daughter Putin is godfather, together with 55 Russian occupiers have been returned to Russia.
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The prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine in late September was approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the objections of his top security service, the FSB, which had concerns about a public backlash in Russia, according to senior Ukrainian and US officials familiar with the matter.
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