The exchange took place

Nadezhda Savchenko flew to the Kyiv Airport Borispol, and Alexander Alexandrov and Evgeny Erofeev landed in Vnukovo

The Kremlin that preserved until this moment has finally officially confirmed the information. The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov told how the situation developed.

Dmitry Peskov : “( the plane - ed. ) Delivered to Moscow, to Vnukovo Airport, two Russian citizens - Erofeev and Alexandrov, who were in Kiev. At the same time, President Putin signed a decree on the pardon of Savchenko, and on a Ukrainian plane that arrived in Rostov, she has already been delivered to Kyiv.

This was preceded today by the meeting of Vladimir Putin with the relatives of our dead journalists from VGTRK - Voloshina Marianna Dmitrievna and Korneluk Ekaterina Sergeevna. This is the sister and widow of our dead journalists.

In turn, this meeting was preceded by appeals in the name of the head of state from the mentioned relatives, which were written on March 22 and 23, respectively. The appeals in which Marianna Dmitrievna and Ekaterina Sergeevna, based on the reasons of humanity, turned to the president with a request to have mercy on Savchenko.

In turn, before writing this petition, in the name of the President Marianna Dmitrievna and Ekaterina Sergeevna met with Viktor Medvedchuk, a representative of Ukraine on humanitarian issues in a trilateral contact group.

That is, the chronology is this: women met with Medvedchuk, after they asked the president (back in March) to have mercy on Savchenko, and today, meeting with them, the head of state signed a decree on pardon. ”

From the text of the decree on pardon signed by the president:
“To have mercy on Savchenko convicted Nadezhda Viktorovna, born on May 11, 1981 in Kyiv, freeing her from further serving a sentence of imprisonment. This Decree comes into force from the day of its signing. ”

The legislation of Russia suggests that only the convict himself can ask for pardon. The Constitution says in several articles: Article 50 - each convicted person for a crime has the right to [...] to ask for a pardon or mitigation of punishment, Art. 89 - President of the Russian Federation [...] pardon.

On March 21, the lawyer Savchenko Nikolai Polozov claimed that the Ukrainian soldier himself, found guilty of the murder of journalists of the VGTRK, would not ask for pardon.

In the situation with the Russians, lawyers initially did not hide that the pardon procedure is the most likely way to return Erofeev and Alexandrov to Russia. The defender of Erofeeva Oksana Sokolovskaya explained that under Ukrainian legislation, the petition for pardon can be submitted not only by convicts, but also by some other persons, in particular, relatives of convicts, members of the Commission on Clogue and the Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Russians themselves, as Sokolovskaya emphasized, do not intend to submit such a petition, since they do not agree with the court verdict.

However, regardless of the legal part, the exchange took place.

The only hint that the exchange would take place so suddenly could only be the words of Dmitry Peskov that Vladimir Putin would take part in a conversation in the Norman format. A telephone conversation took place on Monday at night with Poroshenko, as well as Angels Merkel and Francois Olland.

As a result, the Kremlin’s press service did not mention that the exchange could be discussed in the conversation.

“The issues of political settlement of the situation in the southeast of Ukraine were discussed. The importance of strict observance of the truce regime, increasing the efficiency of activity in the conflict zone of the special monitoring mission of the OSCE by giving it additional powers, as well as strengthening the joint center for control and coordination, ”the press service reported.

On Wednesday at 11:14, Interfax, citing sources, reported that the plane of the President of Ukraine would soon land at Rostov-on-Don airport, where Savchenko would pick up and deliver it to Kyiv. In turn, the Russian board was supposed to bring Erofeev and Alexandrov to Moscow.

For some time, official representatives of the countries refused to comment on the situation. So, Dmitry Peskov at 11:29 told RIA Novosti that he did not have information about the beginning of the Savchenko exchange procedure for Alexandrov and Erofeev.

Nevertheless, the information was confirmed.

Savchenko at the Borispol airport was met by President Poroshenko, her mother and sister, as well as a crowd of journalists.

“If people had not said, then politicians would be silent forever. Thanks to all people, thank you all. I want to say thank you to those who wish me good, because thanks to you I survived. I want to say thank you to those who wanted me to be evil, because I spent you in spite, ”Savchenko told reporters.

Erofeeva and Alexandrova in Moscow met a smaller delegation. As the correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, Pavel Kanygin, reported from the scene, in the morning the Russian Today journalists, Channel One and NTV were on duty at the airport, and the reporters were allowed to shoot from some list. Who was compiled - is not specified.

Erofeev and Aleksandrov were taken to the Vnukovo-3 terminal, serving a business aviation. The journalist of Novaya Gazeta was not missed inside. According to RT, the Russians were met by their wives. Later, the photograph was published by the lawyer Oksana Sokolovskaya.

Dmitry Peskov, in a conversation with reporters, said that in the schedule of Vladimir Putin there were no meetings with Alexander Alexandrov and Evgeny Erofeev.