ZCZC
BFF-65
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-SENTSOV-POLITICS
Putin knocks down exchange of Ukraine hunger strike director
MOSCOW, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Vladimir Putin appeared
Thursday to dismiss the possibility of exchanging a hunger-striking Ukrainian
film director, held in a prison in Russia’s far north, for a journalist
detained in Kiev.
“We have not thought about it so far,” Putin said during an annual
televised phone-in, answering a question on whether Oleg Sentsov could be
exchanged for a journalist awaiting trial in Ukraine on treason charges.
“We are thinking about different things, that common sense should prevail.”
The 41-year-old documentary film director launched a hunger strike on May
14, demanding that Moscow release all its Ukrainian political prisoners as
Russia prepares to host the 2018 World Cup next week.
Sentsov was detained on arson charges in Crimea in 2014 after Russia
annexed the peninsula.
He denied the allegations but was found guilty on terrorism charges and is
serving a 20-year sentence in Russia’s far north.
Some observers had earlier suggested Moscow and Kiev could be planning a
prisoner exchange since a journalist working for Russian state news agency
RIA Novosti, Kyrylo Vyshynsky, was detained in Ukraine on treason charges.
On Sunday, the Ukraine government had urged Moscow to allow foreign doctors
to see Sentsov and other Ukrainian political prisoners.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1952 hrs