BERLIN. The West and Russia have apparently reached a large-scale agreement on a prisoner swap. Accordingly, Tiergarten murderer Vadim Krasikov is said to be on his way to Moscow, reports Image-NewspaperThe 58-year-old shot a Georgian in the Kleiner Tiergarten on behalf of the Russian government and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany.
In exchange for Krasikov, Russia must release imprisoned American journalist Evan Gershkovich and Russian Kremlin opponents Vladimir Kara-Mursa and Ilya Yashin. German Rico K. has also been released, the newspaper reports. The 30-year-old was recently sentenced to death in Belarus, but was later pardoned.
Was Russia Planning a Prisoner Swap?
In addition to Krasikov, who has been held in Germany until now, other Russians will also be released. They are said to be cybercriminals. Since Krasikov’s arrest, the number of arrests of Western citizens and Russian opposition activists in Russia has increased. The Kremlin may be using them as a bargaining chip. Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly hinted that he wanted to bring back the hitman Krasikov.
Like the ImageThe newspaper reports that several planes are currently making a detour via Ankara to complete the prisoner exchange. Turkey played a mediating role in the negotiations. In addition to Germany and the United States, Britain and Slovenia are also expected to be involved in the exchange. (sv)