German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on the large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and the West on August 1. He stated that the decision to deport Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted in Germany for the murder of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, to Russia was not an easy one.
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"This difficult decision was made after careful consultation and deliberation between the relevant agencies and the ruling coalition. It was carried out based on the Attorney General's order to suspend the prison sentence and proceed with deportation," said Scholz. The chancellor emphasized that such an agreement with the Kremlin was necessary for the release of Russian political prisoners, as well as German and American citizens, who are imprisoned in the Russian Federation.
"The decision to deport a murderer serving a life sentence after several years in prison was not easy for anyone.
The state's interest in enforcing imprisonment must be balanced with the freedom of innocent people and the safety of political prisoners illegally detained in Russia, whose health and, in some cases, lives are at risk," said Scholz.
Olaf Scholz confirmed that as part of the deal, German citizen Rico Krieger, who was convicted of terrorism in Belarus, sentenced to death, and later pardoned by the country's president, Alexander Lukashenko, was released. Scholz met Krieger and several Russian political prisoners at Cologne airport.
The head of the foreign relations committee of the German parliament, Michael Roth, responded to the exchange of prisoners, saying, "Sometimes, for humanitarian reasons, you have to deal with the devil."
As part of the prisoner exchange, Russia released 16 people and received 8 in return. As the BBC's Russian Service reported, this marks the first time since the end of the Cold War that Russia has released political prisoners in exchange for its special services personnel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally interested in the release of Vadim Krasikov.
Those who returned to Moscow were greeted by Putin at the airport, at the plane's gate, with a red carpet and an honor guard. The first person he shook hands with was Vadim Krasikov.
Krasikov had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany in December 2021. On August 23, 2019, in broad daylight, he killed 40-year-old former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili with two shots in a Berlin park. Putin called Krasikov "a patriot who eliminated a bandit."
