Moscow brings arms dealer Maar home – the night at a glance

The athlete was caught earlier this year with a small amount of vape cartridges and hashish at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and sentenced to nine years in a trial that has been criticized as politically motivated. Meanwhile in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants Russia’s leaders tried for “mining terror”.

American Republicans criticize Russia’s celebrated deal

Despite the enormous tensions in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, Washington and Moscow had agreed on the sensational prisoner exchange. US basketball player Griner, sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia, and arms dealer But, who is behind bars in the US, were flown to the United Arab Emirates, where the prisoner exchange took place at Abu Dhabi airport.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova stressed that President Vladimir Putin personally campaigned for But’s release. The deal is particularly celebrated in right-wing circles in Russia: “The exchange of Buts is more than beneficial: in 2019, the Russian authorities offered to release 15 Americans for his return, so the process now went according to the formula.” 1 against 1,” wrote the military blog «Rybar», which is close to the Russian Defense Ministry, on Thursday. Moreover, Moscow did not have to release a valuable spy or mercenary, only “an ordinary basketball player”.

The Washington government justified its action after criticism from American Republicans, who consider American Paul Whelan, who is still in prison in Russia, to have been abandoned. “It wasn’t like we had to choose between Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN. It was about releasing one prisoner instead of no prisoner. The Russians blocked American proposals to release Whelan. The former marine was arrested in Russia in 2018 and convicted of alleged espionage.

Zelensky complains about the danger of Russian mines

Meanwhile, the armed forces of Russia and the attacked neighbor continue to wage war on the battlefield in Ukraine. And even where the fighting has ended, deadly danger still lurks in many places. Above all, President Zelensky deplored the ubiquitous risk of Russian mines on Ukrainian territory. “This is the form of Russian terror we will face for years to come,” he said in his daily video message on Thursday. He accused Russia of deliberately abandoning the mines as a mortal threat to civilians. He is therefore sure that mine terrorism will be one of the charges against Russia after the war, said the head of state.

In addition, Zelenski reported on his talks with Slovak ministers, which served to strengthen European solidarity and find a common line for the next package of sanctions. The Ukrainian president specifically calls on the West to impose sanctions on Russia’s financial and energy sectors. Most recently, the EU had set a $60 price cap on Russian oil shipped. Although this is below the world market price, Kiev had demanded a significantly lower price cap.

Report: 300,000 Ukrainians were issued Russian passports during the war

According to a media report, about 300,000 Ukrainians have been issued Russian passports since the start of the war. In October alone, after the Kremlin annexed four Ukrainian regions, 70,000 to 80,000 people were naturalized, the Kremlin-critical Internet portal Mediazona reported Thursday, citing interior ministry statistics. Most applicants received their new Russian passports in the southern Russian region of Rostov-on-Don and on the Crimean peninsula, which has been annexed by Moscow since 2014.

That will be important on Friday

The verdict against the well-known opposition figure Ilya Yashin is scheduled for Friday in Moscow. The 39-year-old is not only a confidant of imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, but also an opponent of the war. Because he denounced Russian war crimes in Ukraine in a stream, the judiciary accuses him of “discrediting the armed forces”. The prosecutor is demanding nine years in prison for Yashin.

(SDA)