The Belarusian side has signalled its desire to take custody of Inna Kardash, who was detained in Ukraine in January this year on suspicion of espionage. However, no practical steps have yet been taken in this direction. This was stated in an interview with “Ukrinform” by Bohdan Okhrimenko, head of the secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“Such a signal was made, but so far there has been nothing beyond discussions. We are open to proposals. We have no interest in holding foreign criminals, spending budget funds on them while our unlawfully convicted citizens are behind bars in inhumane conditions. If there are practical proposals in this communication, we will consider them,” he said.
Okhrimenko also described the circumstances of Kardash’s detention.
“The SBU and HUR received information about her activities and began an operational game. She believed she was working at the Coordination Headquarters. A pseudo workplace was arranged for her; she did not have access to the premises of the Coordination Headquarters and was located elsewhere. The premises themselves were prepared to record everything taking place, and the materials provided to her contained no truthful information. When the SBU officers involved in her handling documented everything, her detention was carried out,” he added.
According to him, the Ukrainian side continues dialogue with Minsk on the release of Ukrainians held in Belarus.
“Our people are still in Belarus. We know and remember each of them. Negotiations are ongoing. Communication with the Belarusian side has always existed. Our consul operates in Belarus and Ukrainian citizens can receive consular services. But we understand that Belarus is, in essence, an occupied territory of the Russian Federation.
The Belarus case was quite interesting in that when the Russians ceased participation in negotiations in November last year, we demonstrated readiness for communication on the return of our citizens and Belarusian political prisoners. The negotiations took place with the participation of the United States, and we are grateful to President Trump’s special representative for the dialogue,” he said.
At the same time, Russia does not hold Ukrainian prisoners in Belarus.
“We have not recorded this so far. Russia uses Belarusian prisons when preparing for exchanges to move prisoners from remote regions of Russia and bring them to the place where exchanges are conducted,” he said.
