Prisoner exchange brings Kremlin agents home, greeted by Putin
Spies and agents of the Kremlin, who were released during Thursday's prisoner exchange, have already returned to Russia. Vladimir Putin himself personally waited for them at the airport in Moscow. He embraced, among others, the agent who killed a Kremlin enemy in Berlin.
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The Russian dictator even made a short speech on the airport tarmac. He thanked the arrivals for their "loyalty to the oath, your duty and the motherland, which has never forgotten you for a minute."
Putin handed a bouquet to one of the women. The independent portal Meduza notes that Putin especially warmly greeted Vadim Karasikov, who in 2019 carried out the assassination of a Chechen-Georgian field commander in Berlin on Moscow's orders, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany.
- You will all be nominated for state awards. We will see each other again and talk about your future. Now, I want to congratulate you on your return to your homeland - Putin said.
Kremlin propagandist Pavel Zarubin published the recording from the tarmac at Vnukovo. The pro-Kremlin agency TASS also posted a brief report.
Historic prisoner exchange between Russia and the West
On Thursday, in Ankara, the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries since the Cold War took place, according to international agencies. The Turkish service Anatolia reported that the operation involved 24 people from prisons in seven countries, including Poland, as well as two children.
In exchange for getting their people out "from the West," Vladimir Putin released political prisoners who were effectively held hostage, including opposition members and journalists. Among them is "The Wall Street Journal" journalist Evan Gershkovich, who, according to commentators, was detained on alleged espionage charges precisely so that the Kremlin could pressure the USA.
Also, German citizen Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death in Belarus and then pardoned by Alexander Lukashenko, was, according to commentators, deliberately drawn into an operational game to enable the Kremlin to exert pressure on Berlin.
As reported by Turkish authorities, 10 people, including two minors, were relocated to Russia, 13 to Germany, and three to the USA. The exchange involved prisoners from the USA, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus.
