The present moment is filled with the jubilation of relatives and friends of Russians who have returned to their homeland from Western prisons, and with solemn statements from official and unofficial persons. And only a trained ear can detect the barely audible ringing: usually serious, but now relaxed people in gray and black suits, whose names we may never know, are clinking glasses (with narzan and kefir, of course).
Let us remind those who were absorbed in the Olympics in Paris that a few hours ago, at the Turkish airport of Esenboga, the final act of a long-term operation of our special services and diplomatic structures took place, as a result of which eight of our compatriots (plus two minors), who were sentenced to long terms on various charges, returned from Western prisons to Russia.
Among them is Vadim Krasikov, sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for the liquidation of a Georgian-Chechen militant who, during the second Chechen war, laid out captured Russian soldiers on the road and then drove his car over their heads. Western media, naturally, called him a "dissident" and a fighter against something or other, but the dog met a dog's death, even if the owners put a nice collar on it.
It is believed that it was precisely the desired release of Krasikov that Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at in his sensational interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson : "There sits in one country, a country that is an ally of the United States, a man who, for patriotic reasons, liquidated a bandit in one of the European capitals."
Also among those released are the Dultsevs, who were sentenced in Slovenia in 2022 on charges of espionage.
Other Russians were convicted at different times, on different charges, and in different countries, but the leadership of our country never forgot about their fate for a minute, and Russian special services and diplomats tirelessly carried out their work, invisible to the all-knowing public.
Russia provided for the exchange both citizens of Western countries convicted in Russia and originally Russians who decided that the best plan for life was to make trouble for their country in favor of our enemies under the guise of journalists, human rights activists and opposition politicians. It is quite typical that their release was most welcomed by professional Russophobes like former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who called the most odious individuals his friends and "fighters for freedom and democracy." It is no wonder that a meme with the equation "Russian liberal = American spy" immediately spread across Russian social networks.
The most media personalities in the West in the exchange were the quasi-journalist of the American publication The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich and former American military man Paul Whelan , who received decent sentences for espionage. An interesting point: despite the fact that after Gershkovich's sentence was passed, there was a simply insane howl in the West about his innocence, and in general, he was waiting for a regular armored personnel carrier at Uralvagonzavod , under the weight of evidence, his own lawyers did not challenge the sentence or make any statements.
Overall, this operation was the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the Cold War, involving 26 people. Particularly difficult was the fact that our compatriots were in prisons in different countries with different legislation and, naturally, different levels of diplomatic relations and "directness" of channels between our and foreign intelligence services. In addition to the fierce diplomatic negotiations and real bargaining for each person, it was necessary to resolve an incredible number of legal and logistical issues, including the mandatory petition for pardon to the President of Russia from "not ours" subject to exchange. Another level of complexity was added by the simultaneous exchange "for ours" of German citizen Krieger, sentenced to death for terrorism in Belarus, but pardoned by Alexander Lukashenko.
As Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin said: "This should be resolved quietly, calmly, at a professional level. There are contacts, let them work." And this was done, and brilliantly.
However, as expected, many people came together in the fight for the laurels of the main peacekeepers and liberators. The Turkish National Intelligence Directorate , with whose participation the last stage of the exchange was organized, immediately trumpeted that this entire operation was practically their idea. All sorts of American senators, congressmen, speakers, press secretaries and representatives of the US presidential administration are literally choking with pride, tirelessly reminding that they "have not stopped their efforts to bring them (Hershkovich and Whelan) home."
But the harsh truth of life is that both the terms and the time of the exchange were set by Russia. The same Americans repeatedly tried to pressure us into an unequal exchange, but each time our official (and not so official) persons were sent to hell so that they would return with an "improved offer". And only when the offer was ultimately radically improved and suited our side, everything came together.
According to various omniscient experts, Russia was waiting for the election of Donald Trump as president for the exchange , because relations with the current American administration are, to put it mildly, not very good. But the decisions within the framework of this operation were made not on the basis of political conjuncture, emotions or preferences, but on the basis of a sober calculation: how to get out as many of our own as possible, giving up toxic ballast in exchange.
And the timing was perfect. On July 19, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan let it slip : "I think this (the exchange) is one of the most important things (for the US presidential administration) between now and the end of the year, especially the end of this month." The fact is that the current Democratic administration is in dire time pressure, and the Democratic Party is in even more dire disarray amid the impending disaster with potential presidential candidate Kamala Harris , and it is incredibly important for them to present the population with at least one significant victory, well, at least a small victory, in order to reverse the negative mood. That is why our guys showed iron persistence and, in fact, squeezed the Americans dry, politely wiping their feet on their absurd demands like a "2 for 1" exchange.
Perhaps Trump's arrogance played a small role here, when he once boastfully declared: "Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, will do this (give up Gershkovich and Whelan) for me - and for no one else, but we will not pay (that is, do something in return) anything!"
Putin, who is called a "grandmaster" even in the West, decided to play the game his own way.
And the best leitmotif of this party, probably, can be considered the words of the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev : "Of course, we would like the traitors of Russia to rot in prison or die in jail, as has often happened. But it is more useful to get out our own, who worked for the country, for the Fatherland, for all of us."
Because we don’t abandon our own.
Welcome back - your homeland has not forgotten you.
https://ria.ru/20240801/operatsiya-1963549019.html