Ukrainian intellectual calls for pressure on Russia for prisoner exchange

Ukrainian intellectual calls for pressure on Russia for prisoner exchange

The Ukrainian intellectual and human rights activist Maksym Butkewytsch, once in Russian captivity, is intensively committed to the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians after his release. Butkewytsch, who was released in October 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange, emphasizes the need that an exchange of prisoners and civilians should be a prerequisite for peace talks with Russia. "First release and exchange, then talk to each other," he says urgently. This is also a topic that has been addressed in recent conversations in Saudi Arabia from the Ukrainian side, as reported OE24 .

executions and war crimes in the focus

Butkewytsch also describes the serious human rights violations that he suffered in Russian imprisonment. The brutal execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers is described as a systematic crime. This is a clear violation of humanitarian international law. Aid organizations and the UN document a dramatic increase in these executions: "The situation is getting worse," said the Ukrainian Attorney General Jurij Belouusow. In 2024, 81 percent of all documented executions have already taken place in the past three years, which alerts the international community. The first reports of frightening recordings that show how Ukrainian soldiers are shot, without warning of Russian forces.