Exactly on the second anniversary of the most recent presidential election in Ukraine, news feeds literally exploded with the reports of Nadia Savchenko’s release. As late as that morning, her sister Vira told The Day that she was unaware of Nadia’s possible return to Ukraine. “I am following reports from the president,” she said, but after Vira Savchenko and the sisters’ mother came to the Boryspil airport, all doubts about Nadia’s return disappeared completely. Sometime before, the president received for signature pardons for two Russian GRU servicemen, though the Russian side had ruled out exchanging these Russian soldiers for Savchenko. Russia does not recognize the GRU men as its own soldiers, for it would amount to admission of the fact of Russian aggression, and Savchenko herself is considered by the Kremlin a “criminal” instead of a prisoner of war.
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day
It is clear that such an exchange was a special operation, not just a political or legal act. Therefore, no one knew until May 25. On that day, the Russian media spread information about Petro Poroshenko flying from Kyiv to Rostov. Their message was clear – the president was going the way of Viktor Yanukovych. From the very beginning, Russia has played with city names: for example, the Savchenko trial was held in the Russian city of Donetsk, Rostov region, which gave rise to frequent puns involving its namesake, the city of Donetsk in the occupied Ukrainian Donbas). These dramatic moves reflected the drama of thousands of people.
This drama’s protagonists include not only Savchenko, but also dozens of other Ukrainians held captive by the Kremlin regime, followed by hundreds and thousands of dead, mutilated, and those who will never forget and never forgive. The last point is one of principle. We should neither forget nor forgive, because even as recently as a few days ago, seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed (it was the deadliest day of 2016) and two captured. Thus, it was a poor exchange. Finally, who or what did we provide in exchange?
REUTERS photo
A year ago, Ukrainian forces captured Russian soldiers Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov near the city of Shchastia, in the vicinity of the place where Savchenko had been taken prisoner. It is worth mentioning that the detention of two Russian GRU servicemen was due to the efforts of ordinary Ukrainian soldiers, and the story got publicized only due to the fact that one of our soldiers had access to the Internet and published this high-profile fact. Otherwise, Alexandrov and Yerofeyev would have joined the list of “hundreds of detained Russian servicemen,” who somehow “should not be reported in the media,” as our top military leadership stated a year ago. This is an important moment, because apart from Savchenko, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are still behind the bars or in basements. The general public has not even heard about many of them, let alone becoming aware of their fate.
