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Russia commends efforts of Ukrainian opposition on prisoner exchange — Medvedev

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met with chairman of the Ukrainian opposition platform "For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk on Wednesday

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Astakhov/POOL/TASS

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev

© Dmitry Astakhov/POOL/TASS

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Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes handover of prisoners by Donbass republics

MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has commended the efforts of chairman of the Ukrainian opposition platform "For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk on prisoner exchange.

"You personally are in charge of the humanitarian mission, you facilitate the return of Ukrainian citizens. I think that in any case, this is worthy of praise," Medvedev said during a meeting with the chairman of the Ukrainian opposition platform "For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk and its co-chairman Yuri Boyko on Wednesday.

The Russian head of government has expressed his surprise over the Ukrainian public’s response to such efforts. "It is astonishing that people are placed in the background, while the issue at the forefront is who the mediator is, why didn’t I do this, if I didn’t do this, then it’s not good," he said. "I think this is strange, because regarding such humanitarian issues, the interests of any person, even if it’s just one person who could return home, take precedent." The Russian prime minister stressed that he considers Medvedchuk’s work "very helpful."

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