MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/: Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, convicted in Russia of plotting terrorist attacks in Crimea, has been transferred to Moscow from a penal colony in Labytnangi, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, in order to be exchanged, a source familiar with the situation told TASS.
"Sentsov has been transferred to Moscow from the Labytnangi colony and taken to a pre-trial detention center," the source said without going into detail.
Sentsov’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze, however, told TASS that he was unaware of plans to exchange his client for Russians jailed in Ukraine.
Ukrainian media reported last week that Kiev and Moscow intended to carry out a prisoner swap based on the "33 for 33" formula. Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova visited Kiev a few days ago but her agenda remained unclear.
Sentsov case
On August 25, 2015, Russia’s North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison on charges of organizing a terrorist group in Crimea. In the spring of 2014, the group’s members carried two terror attacks in the Crimean city of Simferopol, setting fire to the offices of Crimea’s Russian Community organization and the United Russia party’s Crimean branch. According to the investigation, they also plotted other terrorist attacks.
