Oksana Marchenko, the spouse of the arrested Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk, has recorded a video address to Russian President Vladimir Putin in which she requests his assistance in securing the release of her husband. It comes after she appealed to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, earlier this week.
In her statement, Marchenko suggested to Putin that there is a chance of persuading the Ukrainian authorities to swap Medvedchuk for two British mercenaries who reportedly surrendered to Russian and Donbass forces in Mariupol earlier this week. She underlined that her husband “gave his consent to be exchanged and transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation if the Russian and Ukrainian sides reach the relevant agreements.”
“You know well that the trial arranged for Viktor has nothing to do with common sense and is a vivid example of unlawful reprisal against an undesirable politician for his consistent, principled and open position,” Marchenko said in her address to Putin.
Saying that she does not believe in the possibility of fair process for her husband, Marchenko argued that the swap could be a way to “save him.” This hope, she explained, inspired her earlier appeal to the families and friends of British nationals Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.