Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on Monday posted a video online of Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of Ukraine’s largest opposition party who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the video, Medvedchuk asked to be handed over to Moscow in exchange for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in the besieged city of Mariupol.
“I want to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to exchange me for Ukrainian defenders and residents of Mariupol,” Medvedchuk said in the video.
Russia has said it cleared all urban areas of Mariupol, but some Ukrainian soldiers, including members of the neo-Nazi Azov battalion, are still holding out in the Azovstal iron and steelworks plant. Russia said if the troops surrendered by a certain time on Sunday, their lives would be spared, but the deadline was rejected.
Medvedchuk was put under house arrest last year over allegations of treason. A few days after Russia invaded, Medvedchuk fled his home, but he was captured and arrested by Ukrainian forces earlier this month. After his arrest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky floated the idea of swapping him for Ukrainian Prisoners of war.
Until very recently, Medvedchuk was the leader of Opposition Platform – For Life, Ukraine’s largest opposition party. The party denounced Russia’s invasion and stripped Medvedchuk of his leadership role after he fled house arrest. In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banned Opposition Platform – For Life and 10 other political parties over alleged “links” to Moscow.
Separately on Monday, Russian state media published a video of two men identified as British nationals captured fighting for Ukraine, asking to be exchanged for Medvedchuk. Since the invasion, Ukraine stepped up efforts to recruit foreign nationals to join the fight against Russia.
Russian forces did not take the operational pause that was likely necessary to reconstitute and properly integrate damaged units withdrawn from northeastern Ukraine into operations in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces withdrawn from around Kyiv and going back to fight in Donbas have, at best, been patched up and filled out with soldiers from other damaged units, and the Russian military has few, if any, cohesive units not previously deployed to Ukraine to funnel into new operations.
Frequent reports of disastrously low Russian morale and continuing logistics challenges indicate the effective combat power of Russian units in eastern Ukraine is a fraction of their on-paper strength in numbers of battalion tactical groups (BTGs).
Russian forces may be able to wear down Ukrainian positions in eastern Ukraine through the heavy concentration of firepower and sheer weight of numbers, but likely at a very high cost. A sudden and dramatic Russian offensive success remains highly unlikely, and Ukrainian tactical losses would not spell the end of the campaign in eastern Ukraine, much less the war as a whole.
Look at this fellow’s face – he’s obviously been tortured. Likely by some of our guys.
Coup politics 101:
Nazis don’t make deals not even in the Putsch.
We should send them a nice hot meal and hot coffee and some Vodka and crackers and cheese as a care package because they are going to be shot in the back if they surrender by Azov hardliners.
Medvedchuk is discussed in Oliver Stone’s “Revealing Ukraine” film in 2019. Putin is asked in 2019 about being the Godfather of one of Medvedchuk’s children. Putin said he does not really know Medvedchuk. He was asked to be the Godfather and it is not something you refuse in their culture.
So those saying Medvedchuk is Putin’s guy are ignorant of reality.
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British nationals captured fighting for Ukraine” Interesting.
“That Ain’t Gonna Happen.” The Azovstal plant is under heavy bombardment from artillery and heavy Russian bombers. Only a matter of time until all structures are collapsed and the defenders buried alive.