You release my husband, we release British citizens.
The wife of pro-Russian Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has called on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help organize an exchange between her husband and British citizens held captive by Russia.
“Mr. Prime Minister, you have a great influence on President Zelensky,” Oksana Marchenko said in a speech on YouTube.
“If you are not indifferent to the fate of your subjects, help their family and friends bring [them] back, help me bring Victor back,” she said.
British citizen Aiden Aslin according to Russian media has been captured in the city of Mariupol.
He has dual citizenship – Ukrainian and British, reports the BBC.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said she hoped the British prime minister would respond soon.
Medvedchuk was apprehended by Ukrainian security agents on Tuesday while apparently trying to flee to Russia.
He had been under house arrest on suspicion of treason, but escaped when the Russians invaded Ukraine. He is a wealthy businessman and has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.