Yaschin: Putin may take "more hostages" after prisoner exchange
The West finds itself in a "difficult dilemma" when it comes to prisoner exchanges, according to Jaschin. He also emphasized that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) understands this dilemma very well.
Jaschin is certain that Putin would take prisoners as a bargaining chip regardless of Western support for imprisoned political prisoners. "Putin would take hostages anyway. Putin has always done this and will continue to do so, regardless of whether Western governments rescue people or ignore them."
Russia, along with its ally Belarus, and on the other side, Germany, the USA, and three other NATO countries, carried out the prisoner exchange on Thursday afternoon in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Russia released 15 prisoners, including four with German citizenship.
The release of a German national who was initially sentenced to death and later pardoned in Belarus was also achieved. According to Russian reports, eight Russian prisoners and two minors were flown back to Russia in exchange.
Among them was Vadim Krasikov, known as the "Tiergarten murderer". He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany in late 2021 for shooting a Georgian man of Chechen origin in Berlin's Tiergarten in August 2019. The court found it proven that Krasikov committed the murder on behalf of Russian state authorities.
The defendant had posed as an innocent engineer. On Friday, a day after Krasikov's release, Putin's spokesman Dmitri Peskov confirmed that the 58-year-old was a member of the Russian FSB.
Jaschin was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in late 2022 for criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The 41-year-old was a close associate of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015, and a friend of Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian labor camp in February.
The SPD, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at its helm, has been navigating this difficult dilemma regarding prisoner exchanges thoroughly. Despite the prisoner exchange between Russia, Belarus, Germany, the USA, and other NATO countries, the German Chancellor fully comprehends the complexities involved with such bargains, as stated by Jaschin.
