Russia Considering Prisoner Swap With Ukraine For Putin Close Ally

With the war between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing, some prisoners have been captured by each side. And it appears that there could be some prisoner exchanges possibly happening, something that both sides are open to initiating.

One name being floated as potentially being swapped is Viktor Medvedchuk. The 67-year-old politician is reportedly one of Ukraine’s wealthy businessmen and is known to be a close friend of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Moscow Times reported.

"We are going to study the possibility," Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia's negotiating team on Ukraine, stated.

Medvedchuk reportedly eluded house arrest after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. However, the 67-year-old was re-arrested in April.

Most of the Ukrainian fighters who surrendered to Russian forces are from the Azov regiment. They are described by Russia as a Neo-Nazi organization.

The Russian Supreme Court is expected to deliberate on a request to classify the Azov regiment on Thursday, May 26, as the group that has been branded as a terrorist organization. This could pose complications to the prisoner exchange request.

Also, Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Donetsk separatists, believes that the Ukrainian soldiers who defended the Azovstal plant should be put on trial.

"I believe that a legal case is inevitable: justice must prevail," Pushilin stated.

In the latest update in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, bodies of dead Russian soldiers strewn among the rubble of formerly occupied towns are being gathered.

More than 60 bodies have been gathered by the military in the northeast region of Kharkiv, stacking them up in a refrigerated rail carriage, NDTV reported.

"We are gathering all the documents, all the credit cards. Anything which would help us identify the body" Anton Ivannikov, captain of the military-civil cooperation branch, Ukrainian Armed Forces, stated.

"In the future this will tell us which soldier, which brigade was in this region, for further exchange," he added.

The bodies will travel on the train to Kyiv where the team negotiating exchanges is based.