Learn more

Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist Maksym Butkevych said he did not know he was going to be released in a prisoner swap until he was already in transit. Russia and Ukraine on Oct. 18 conducted their 58th prisoner exchange, involving 190 detainees, including Butkevych. The activist was serving a 13-year sentence in a Russian penal colony at the time of his release. The exchange came without warning, Butkevych told the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske. “No, I didn’t know, it was unexpected,” he said. “Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an…

cuu