Ukraine still hands Kremlin opponents back to Russia—even now
Ukraine never stopped handing Kremlin opponents to Russia and its own prisoner swaps, human rights defender says.
Ukraine continues to hand over Kremlin opponents to Russia, despite condemning the practice as a violation of human rights. Human rights defender Borys Zakharov, who directs the charitable foundation Human and Law, explained that the transfers have not stopped since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022; they now often involve third countries, such as Belarus, Moldova, and Turkey.
Zakharov highlighted that Ukraine returns the same individuals who risked their lives for the country, presenting itself as the rule-of-law side of the war. Russia prosecutes captured Ukrainians on fabricated terrorism charges, and Ukraine has complied by returning them to Russia to face their trials. Zakharov criticized Ukraine's migration authorities for not conducting proper risk assessments before returning individuals to Russia, where they face potential death, persecution, or torture.
The principle of non-refoulement, which bars states from returning people to countries where they may face such dangers, is violated in these cases. Zakharov provided examples of individuals who were extradited and later faced terrorism charges in Russia, including Chechen volunteer fighters like Timur Tumgoev and wrestler Zelimkhan Belkharoev, as well as Chechen battalion commander Adam Osmayev, whose wife was killed in a 2017 assassination attempt.
These transfers have continued during the war, with the practice rerouted through third countries. Zakharov also mentioned the case of Aslan Khakimov, a Russian engineer who fled the Federal Security Service in 2015 and now faces deportation and terrorism charges in Russia after spending years building robots for Ukraine's army.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
