Prisoner Swap Highlights Tensions: A Victory for the West, but Smiles from Russia

The West, led by the United States, has celebrated. And has openly spoken of victory. “A monumental effort,” to quote Joe Biden. The release of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, and several Kremlin opponents – including Vladimir Kara-Murza – is certainly a success. But Russia can also at least muster a smile. The triumphant welcome reserved by Vladimir Putin for the recently exchanged prisoners is indicative. And the reason is quickly stated: as highlighted by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Moscow exchanged “innocent citizens” of the European Union and the United States, along with “honest democratic Russians,” for “convicted criminals and murderers.” Moreover, we are talking about people who served the interests of the State: hackers, spies, real killers like Vadim Krasikov, sentenced to life in prison by a German court in 2021 for the murder, in 2019, of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a Chechen of Georgian ethnicity. The assassination took place in a Berlin park in broad daylight. As for the political motivations behind that killing, well, there are no doubts. Putin, last February, during the infamous interview with Tucker Carlson, referred to that assassination as a public service rendered by Krasikov, “a man who, for patriotic reasons, eliminated a bandit.” “Bandit” because Khangoshvili had fought against Moscow during the Chechen wars and was wanted in Russia on charges of terrorism. “Whether he did it on his own initiative or not, well, that’s another story,” the president added, in a cryptic manner.