Putin’s first ultimatum to Zelensky: former intelligence officer told what Moscow demanded

The former head of the counterintelligence department of the SBU, who carried out a special operation to detain militant Vladimir Tsemakh, Roman Chervinsky said that during a conversation between Vladimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin on the phone, two topics were discussed – the release of Ukrainian sailors illegally detained by the Russians in the Kerch Strait, and the arrest of the pro-Russian militant Vladimir Tsemakh in ORDLO.

The former intelligence officer presented his version of events on the air of the talk show “Freedom of Speech by Savik Shuster” on the TV channel “Ukraine 24”.

What happened

Recall that on June 27, 2019, the Ukrainian special services carried out an operation, as a result of which they detained the militant Vladimir Tsemakh in the occupied Snizhne in the Donbas. According to intelligence, Tsemakh was involved in the crash in 2014 of a Malaysian plane flight MH17 with Russian-made weapons.

A couple of weeks after the delivery of Tsemakh to the territory controlled by Ukraine, a telephone conversation took place between the President of Ukraine and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. As Roman Chervinsky said, the Russian president mentioned Tsemakh in the negotiations.

“According to my information, this conversation consisted of two parts. The first part is a conversation about the release of our sailors. And the second part is Putin’s ultimatum to Zelensky to pass Tsemakh back to him. This was the most important confirmation that Tsemakh is a valuable person for us and very painful to Putin, which can prove his participation in our war and prove that Russia is an aggressor. Tsemach and seamen are a mutually beneficial exchange, and it should be this way “, – he said.

Note that Roman Chervinsky was removed from office immediately after telephone conversations with Moscow. The former intelligence officer assures that he still does not know the reason for such an order.