Russia, Ukraine air dueling videos of detainees seeking prisoner swap
Around the same time Monday, Ukraine’s intelligence service released footage of Medvedchuk, in which he also appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to exchange him for the “defenders of Mariupol” and “residents who are there today and do not have the possibility to leave safely via a humanitarian corridor.”
The dueling videos from both Russia and Ukraine have raised questions about the treatment of detainees and prisoners of war nearly two months into the conflict. They also implied that both sides could be setting the stage for a possible swap.
It was unclear how freely Medvedchuk, 67, or the two British nationals, Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, were speaking in the videos, which appeared to be filmed from their detention.
Pinner and Aslin both spoke separately in the videos, in which they asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to work on an exchange. At points, they appeared to be prompted by an unidentified man.
“I understand that Mr. Medvechuk has been detained, and we look to exchange myself and Aiden Aslin for Mr. Medvechuk,” Pinner said. “Obviously I’d really appreciate your help in this matter and pushing this agenda.”
Russia has previously maintained that it was not interested in an exchange because Medvedchuk is not a Russian citizen. He previously led the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life party and is one of the richest people in Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities announced last week that he was apprehended while trying to flee the country after escaping house arrest. He was arrested last year on charges of treason and financing terrorism, which he denies.
Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on Ukraine to stop publishing images and videos of captured Russian soldiers, some of whom were recorded while under interrogation.
Under the Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war, captured prisoners must be treated humanely and cannot be subject to humiliating or degrading treatment.
In a statement Monday, Pinner’s family said that they hoped the two men would return home soon — and that they were working with Britain’s Foreign Office and relatives of Aslin to ensure that their rights are upheld.
“We would like to make it clear he is not a volunteer nor a mercenary, but officially serving with the Ukrainian army in accordance with Ukrainian legislation,” the statement, reported by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, said.
Pinner relocated to Ukraine in 2018 and considered it his adopted country, according to the family. He married a Ukrainian woman and served as a marine in the Ukrainian navy.
Aslin also joined the Ukrainian marines in 2018 and served as part of the 36th Marine Brigade in Mariupol, a key battleground in southeastern Ukraine, his friend Brennan Phillips told The Washington Post last week.
The first video of Aslin in captivity emerged last week and was also aired on Russian television, which showed him in handcuffs and with a bruise on his head.
His grandmother Pamela Hall told the BBC, “I never expected this, I thought if the worst came to the worst that Aiden would die fighting. Obviously I didn’t want that, I wanted the war to end and for him to go home to his fiancée.”