We salute our comrades in struggle who found themselves free as a result of the prisoner exchange that took place. It is gratifying to realize that innocent people, who were unjustly and unjustifiably persecuted for their beliefs alone, were able to escape the clutches of Putin’s repressive system.
At the same time, we are forced to note that the very form of release of these political prisoners contradicts the spirit of the Right. These people should have been released and recognized as innocent without any conditions, without having to leave their country and without any exchanges for Putin’s spies and bandits. Unfortunately, the right has long been dead in Putin’s mafia state, all of whose actions have a characteristic criminal tinge. So it turned out to be in this case. For the sake of the release of a few noble, ideological and fearless people, Western countries had to agree to release and hand over spies and criminals to the Russian authorities.
While we welcome the release of a number of Russian political prisoners, we draw the attention of the leadership of the countries of the Free World to the fact that many more political prisoners remain in Russian custody. Not all of them can be exchanged, but all of them must be remembered. Their release must be sought.
In addition, Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians abducted in the occupied territories continue to be held in Russia. Many of these people risk never seeing freedom, as happened to the fifty-five-year-old driver of the Azov regiment, Oleksandr Ishchenko, who died recently in a pre-trial detention center in Rostov-on-Don.
The question of the release of all these people must be put very firmly.
Putin’s regime understands only the language of force. It is this language that should be used to demand the release of all political prisoners, prisoners of war and peaceful Ukrainians illegally held in Russian prisons and camps. We hope that the leaders of the Free World will have the firmness and will to demand that Putin’s regime release all these people, using the only language that the regime understands.
We also expect that the released Russian political prisoners will continue their fight against Putin’s tyranny under new conditions, support Ukraine in its just struggle against the invaders, and recognize the right of Russian citizens to fight Putinism with arms in their hands.
We also welcome the release of foreign nationals held hostage in Russia and freed as a result of the exchange. At the same time, we have to draw the attention of the world community to the fact that the arrests of foreigners are actively used by Putin’s regime precisely to obtain live goods to exchange for Putin’s spies and criminals. Having worked once, such an exchange scheme will continue to be reproduced. Seeing that he can get his killers and agents back, Putin will continue to capture and hold foreigners to replenish the exchange fund. Western countries need to develop different, tougher and more effective approaches to seek the release of their citizens and prevent a recurrence of this practice.
