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Zelenskiy Pardons Ukrainian On A List For Possible Exchange With Russia


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree pardoning 72-year-old, Russia-born Vyacheslav Vysotsky, a source in the Justice Ministry told Current Time.

Vysotsky, a Ukrainian citizen, had been convicted of high treason and espionage for an unidentified foreign state and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The Ukrainian government had included him on a list of people potentially to be exchanged for Ukrainian nationals held in Russia.

On June 6, Zelenskiy's representative to the contact group on regulating the war in parts of eastern Ukraine, former President Leonid Kuchma, said the issue of a prisoner exchange with Russia had been discussed.

"Both sides need to take initial steps," Kuchma said.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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