EPAIt’s one thing Vladimir Putin does hardly ever: go to the airport to fulfill folks off a airplane. Personally.
However he was there final evening: on the tarmac at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport to fulfill and greet these Russians whose launch he’d secured from overseas jails; a part of the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the West for the reason that Chilly Warfare.
Out of the airplane and down the steps got here 10 folks, together with spies, sleeper brokers and a convicted murderer.
“Congratulations in your return to the Motherland!” he instructed them.
You might inform that the Kremlin believes it has one thing to have fun.
For the returning Russians there was a purple carpet reception and a guard of honour. There have been bouquets of flowers and – for some – hugs from the president. Mr Putin embraced Vadim Krasikov, the FSB hitman who’d been serving a life sentence in Germany for assassinating a Georgian-born Chechen dissident.
President Putin promised all of them state awards.
“I wish to handle these of you who’ve a direct connection to navy service,” he continued. “Thanks on your loyalty to your oath and your responsibility to your Motherland, which has by no means forgotten you for a second.”
There’s one other message the pro-Kremlin press is placing out proper now: good riddance to these Russia has free of its prisons and who’ve been flown overseas.
“Eight Russians who’d been jailed in Nato international locations have returned to the Motherland in trade for people who had been appearing to the detriment of Russia’s nationwide safety,” says the federal government paper.
Referring to the dissidents launched by Moscow, Komsomolskaya Pravda claims “they’ve ditched their former Motherland and flown to those that employed them.”
Makes an attempt to discredit critics and opponents; lavish reward for loyal supporters who’re portrayed as true patriots. All this helps the authorities make the case with the Russian those that the prisoner swap was successful for the Kremlin.
There may be little doubt that the Kremlin views the prisoner swap as a victory for Moscow. It obtained what it wished… it obtained its brokers again, together with the person who was No.1 on its want listing, Krasikov. The German authorities had initially been unwilling to launch a convicted murderer, who a German courtroom had concluded had acted on behalf of the Russian authorities.
That reluctance softened as a wider deal took form.
However why was it so vital for the Kremlin to safe Vadim Krasikov’s launch and to deliver him residence?
Right this moment’s Russian newspapers present a clue.
“We’re returning our guys” is the headline within the authorities paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta,
“We don’t abandon our personal!” declares the pro-Putin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.
That’s exactly the message the Kremlin needs to ship to its brokers and spies: if we ship you on missions overseas, and issues go unsuitable, we’ll discover a method of getting you residence.
