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British men captured by Russia while fighting with Ukraine appealed for a prisoner swap.
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They asked to be swapped for Viktor Medvedchuk, an oligarch held by Ukraine who is friends with Putin.
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Russian state TV aired the footage, which appears to have been taken under duress.
Russian state TV broadcast video footage Monday of two UK men who were captured for fighting with the Ukrainian army in Mariupol.
In the videos, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner proposed a prisoner swap for Viktor Medvedchuk, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is in Ukrainian captivity.
Pinner appears tired in the video and Aslin seemed to have been hurt. Given their status as prisoners of war, neither would have been able to speak freely and they were likely speaking under duress.
The videos were aired by Rossiya-1, a state-run channel. It was not immediately clear how the footage made it from the military to them.
Pinner and Aslin asked UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to arrange the swap via Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I’d like to see my wife again,” Pinner said, addressing Johnson. “We look to exchange myself and Aiden Aslin for Mr Medvedchuk. Obviously I would really appreciate your help in this matter.”
Aslin linked his request to a prior request by Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, for Medvedchuk to be part of a prison swap.
Aslin said: “I think that Boris needs to listen to what Oksana has said. I remember seeing in the news when Viktor Medvedchuk was arrested for his political affiliations. If Boris Johnson really does care about British citizens like he says he does then he will help pressure Zelenskyy to do the right thing and return Viktor to his family and return us to our families.’
Aslin previously appeared on Russian state TV looking battered and bloodied, prompting his family to condemn his treatment in custody as “shocking,” Insider’s Natalie Musumeci reported.
Russia responded Monday to the idea of a prisoner swap in lukewarm terms. Putin’s official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists that the Kremlin was in no hurry to arrange anything.
Ukraine and Russia have arranged some prisoner swaps, but not involving anyone as famous as Medvedchuk.
In Putin’s circle
Medvedchuk is a pro-Russia Ukrainian oligarch who says Putin is his daughter’s godfather. He was captured on April 12 after escaping longstanding house arrest, and accused of treason, Insider’s Rebecca Cohen and John Haltiwanger reported.
Cohen and Haltiwanger said Medvedchuk is thought to have been the Kremlin’s favored candidate to lead a puppet government in Ukraine.
He has been friends with Putin for decades, and has been photographed with the Russian president. He is one of Ukraine’s wealthiest men, with an estimated worth of $620 million, and has been sanctioned by both the UK and the US.
In a video posted on Telegram on April 12, Zelenskyy said he was open to trading Medvedchuk for captured Ukrainians, but the Kremlin declined the offer the next day.
In earlier comments, Peskov said Medvedchuk was “not a citizen of Russia” in comments that seemed to dash his hopes of being traded.
Read the original article on Business Insider
