Kremlin: Russia grateful to Lukashenko for gesture of goodwill and pardon of German citizen Krieger
The Russian side is grateful to President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko for the gesture of goodwill and the pardon of German citizen Rico Krieger, who was sentenced to death – as reported on the Kremlin’s website
On August 1st, twenty-six prisoners were swapped between Russia and Western countries at Ankara airport via mediation by Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT). The detainees were held in prisons in seven different countries. Under the terms of the deal, eight Russian citizens will return home, including Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany, and the Dultsev family from Slovenia, together with two children. Russia, in turn, released some foreign politicians: Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and German Rico Krieger, who was pardoned by Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
