Two UK citizens captured by Russian forces during the war in Ukraine, have turned to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a request to facilitate their exchange for detained Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk who is regarded as Russian President Vladimir Putin's main ally.
Shaun Pinner, one of those captured, said on the Russian state media that he and Aiden Aslin, the second captured, would like to be exchanged for Medvedchuk, Sputnik reported. They added that they would be grateful for Johnson's help in this matter.
Pinner noted that he is treated well and understands what position he is in. Aslin, added he considers it important that Johnson heed the call of Medvedchuk's wife, Oksana Marchenko, to exchange them for her husband.
Last week, the celebrity wife of Putin's main ally in Ukraine accused Ukrainian authorities of "persecuting" her husband for political reasons and pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to immediately release him from captivity.
Oksana Marchenko who is a former TV star and hosted "X-Factor Ukraine" first posted a direct appeal on Wednesday, the day after her husband, longtime Putin pal Viktor Medvedchuk, was held in Kyiv for treason, reported New York Post.
In a video, she appealed to Zelenskyy saying, "President Zelensky, I ask you to take all necessary actions for the immediate release of my husband."
Medvedchuk who is listed by Forbes last year as Ukraine's 12th-richest person, worth USD 620 million was put under house arrest last May, charged with "high treason." However, according to Ukrainian police, he fled house arrest a few days after Putin invaded Ukraine at the end of February.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced Viktor's arrest, showing him downcast and in cuffs and sparking widespread celebrations.
"There is no doubt that my husband is being persecuted for political reasons, contrary to the laws of Ukraine and international law," she insisted of the 67-year-old oligarch and former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party.
In yet another appeal on Friday, she pleaded for her husband's release and called him a "political prisoner." Marchenko at the press conference, without offering proof, said, "I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture."
"I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture," she said. She said she had "unfortunately" not heard from Zelenskyy and conceded that she was not expecting to, either.
"He doesn't answer such questions, he is his own law," Marchenko added, according to Russia's TASS news agency, reported NY Post.
( With inputs from ANI )
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