‘Worse than a crime’ to free Azov troops for Putin’s friend

RUSSIAN nationalists have accused their government of “treason” after the Kremlin released more than 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for one of Vladimir Putin’s friends.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said last night that he agreed to hand over Viktor Medvedchuk if Russia freed 200 Ukrainians who fought in Mariupol and the Azovstal steel works.

Among the most high profile critics is Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya and formerly one of the Kremlin’s biggest supporters.

In a post on his Telegram channel, he condemned Mr Putin for agreeing to an exchange on Ukrainian terms, saying: “Our fighters crushed fascists in Mariupol, drove them into Azovstal, smoked them out of basements, died, were wounded and contused. Handing over even this one Azov terrorist should have been unacceptable.” The news was also greeted with fury among Right-wing Russian war bloggers. Rybar, one of the most influential of the anonymous war bloggers, wrote: “Very fortunate on the day mobilisation is announced to see at liberty those who will again shoot at Russian soldiers.”

Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, a former Russian officer, called the deal “treason”. On Twitter, he wrote: “The release of five British mercenaries and all the other members of the Azov regiment in captivity negotiated with the Arab emirates and respected Kievan partners is worse than a crime and worse than a mistake. It is unacceptable stupidity.”

One reason for the anger is that many of those released were from the Azov regiment, which Russian propaganda paints as neo-nazi and uses as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine.

Viktor Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian politician who acted as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow. Mr Putin is the godfather of his youngest daughter.