Putin pours cold water on trading away Ukrainian ‘terrorist’ Oleg Sentsov

During his live call-in show on Thursday, Vladimir Putin said he isn’t currently considering exchanging the jailed Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov for the jailed Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky. The president argued that Sentsov was convicted of plotting terrorist attacks, while Vyshinsky was arrested in Ukraine last month for his actions as a journalist. “You can’t compare these things,” Putin explained.

Oleg Senstov is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for allegedly planning a series of terrorist attacks in Crimea. Since May 14, he has been on a hunger strike, demanding the immediate release of 64 Ukrainian “political prisoners” (he hasn’t added his own name to the list). Kirill Vyshinksy is the chief editor of RIA Novosti Ukraine.

In recent days, the Russian media has buzzed with speculation that Ukraine might consider trading Vyshinsky for the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for espionage.