The expected prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia has not yet taken place. Negotiations on lists, documents, procedures are allegedly continuing. The investigative magazine Theins.ru has put forward a version that, if it is credible, offers a different view of the protracted negotiation process:

“Suddenly, Russian negotiators from the Kremlin were lowered from above the requirement to add to the list Vladimir Tzemakh, the operator of “Buk” (from which Boing MH17 was shot down), – this is reported by sources The Insider, known with the course of negotiations. Moreover, the Russian side has set a condition: without Tsemakh, the exchange will not take place at all. According to sources, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is still inclined to agree to this condition in order to return Ukrainian sailors and Oleh Sentsov (already agreed upon in the list for the exchange), but this may cause strong complaints from the Dutch side – Tzemakh is a key suspect in the Boeing shooting down case, he was the one who commanded the air defense in Snezhnoye in July-August 2014, when the plane was shot down there, and he personally hid the Buk after the incident”.

Thus, the Russian authorities would indirectly recognize both Buk and the team that shot down the plane as their own. And this would be important international news – with implications for the negotiations on Donbas, which will continue within the Normandy format on Monday.

Read more in the Insider investigation.