Latest news with #prisonerSwap
Fox News
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump assassination suspect floats bizarre prisoner swap in letter to judge, asks why he can't be executed
Ryan Routh, the accused would-be assassin of President Donald Trump, has written an unusual letter to the judge asking why the death penalty isn't on the table — and proposing that he be included in a prisoner swap with U.S. adversaries, even suggesting he be sent to freeze in Siberia in exchange for a Ukrainian soldier. Routh, who also said that he now wants to represent himself at trial, makes the outlandish requests in a letter to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon who is overseeing the federal criminal case against him. Routh is charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, assaulting a federal officer and multiple firearms violations for the Sept. 15 incident in Florida, the second attempted assassination plot against Trump in a matter of months. "Why is the death penalty not allowed? At nearly 60, a life of nothingness without love — what is the point? Why is it not all or nothing?" Routh wrote in the letter on the case docket. "I had wished for a prisoner swap with Hamas, Iran... or China for Jimmy Lai or one of the 40 others, or to freeze to death in Siberia in exchange for a Ukrainian soldier... so I could die being of some use and save all this court mess." He then sarcastically adds that the judge could send him away, which would give Trump a symbolic win. "Perhaps you [Judge Cannon] have the power to trade me away... An easy diplomatic victory for Trump to give an American he hates to China, Iran, or North Korea... everyone wins." Routh blasted his legal team, accusing them of ignoring his questions, refusing to write to him and undermining him. "It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me... I will be representing myself moving forward," Routh wrote. "They do not want the case and I no longer want to listen to how horrible a person I am — I can beat my own self up; I do not need help." "Best I walk alone." The letter was filled with self-loathing and despair, and he also apologized to the judge and the courts for having initially accepted court-appointed attorneys but has now chosen to fire them. "It was ridiculous from the outset to consider a random stranger that knows nothing of who I am to speak for me... I am sorry — a childish mistake." He wrote. "I am so sorry, I know this makes your life harder. "Sorry to expend everyone's time on one so insignificant and useless." He also veered into a reflection on his own personal dignity. "On that topic of character, that my attorneys said we shall never tread, I am of the thought – what else is there if we do not have any character, morals, ethics, any substance at all, why live, why argue anything," Routh wrote. In the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 15, prosecutors say Routh set up a sniper hideout near Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. Armed with a military-grade SKS rifle that he had obtained illegally, Routh is accused of positioning himself in anticipation of Trump's arrival to play golf. Before Trump came into range, Routh was spotted by Secret Service agents. When they confronted him, the agents opened fire, and Routh fled the scene, abandoning his rifle, officials said. During his attempted escape, he carried a written escape plan, multiple burner phones, fake IDs and stolen license plates, according to authorities. He was later arrested in Martin County the same day.
Al Jazeera
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,213
Here is how things stand on Saturday, June 21: Fighting Drones and missiles launched by Russia overnight have damaged energy infrastructure in central Ukraine's Kremenchuk district in Poltava, said local military authorities. One person was injured in the attack, according to Volodymyr Kohut, the region's military governor, who did not provide further details on the extent of the damage. Russia had targeted the district's refinery, according to a report by online news outlet Politics and diplomacy Ukraine and Russia exchange more prisoners of war, officials from both countries said, the second swap in two days under an agreement struck in Turkiye earlier this month. All the captured soldiers were wounded, ill or under 25 years old. Neither side said how many soldiers had been freed. At Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg, President Vladimir Putin said he did not 'rule out' his forces taking control of Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy as part of efforts to create a buffer zone along the border. The Sumy region is not one of the regions Moscow has formally annexed, although Russian forces have recently made inroads there for the first time in three years, with Putin claiming his troops had advanced up to 12km (7 miles) in the region. In a string of hawkish remarks, Putin also appeared to repeat his denial of Ukrainian statehood. Ukraine said Putin's comments showed 'disdain' for the peace process. The German military considers Russia to be an 'existential risk' to the country and Europe, according to a Spiegel news magazine report that cites a new Bundeswehr strategy paper. Russia is verifiably preparing for a conflict with NATO, particularly by strengthening forces in western Russia 'at the borders with NATO,' the report cites the strategy paper as saying. Germany can only counter this threat 'with a consistent development of military and society-wide capabilities,' the document concludes. Putin has reaffirmed Moscow's opposition to the spread of weapons of mass destruction, including any potential acquisition by Iran. Putin told Sky News Arabia that Russia supports Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, emphasising that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no evidence suggesting Tehran seeks to build nuclear weapons. Putin also stated that Russia is prepared to assist Iran in the development of its civilian nuclear programme. Economy At the economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin also urged officials not to let Russia fall into recession 'under any circumstances', as some in his own government warned of a hit to economic growth. Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting just 1.4 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2025, the weakest pace in two years. A decision by the OPEC+ group of leading global oil producers to speed up production now looks far-sighted and justified amid the Middle East conflict, said Igor Sechin, head of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, at the forum. Sechin also said that there will be no oil glut in the long term despite the production rise, and that the European Union seeks to reduce Russia's oil cap to $45 to improve the profitability of its purchases, not to cut Russia's budget revenues.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Yahoo
Ukraine POWs return home after a new exchange
Many were suffering from injuries and prolonged detention, according to Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (KSHPPV). The exchange was confirmed by Russia's defense ministry, which released a video of Russian servicemen at an exchange area in Belarus after being released in the prisoner swap.
Russia Today
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia and Ukraine conduct another prisoner swap – MOD (VIDEO)
Russia and Ukraine have carried out another prisoner-of-war swap under terms agreed at talks in Istanbul earlier this month, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has announced. In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that a group of Russian service members held in Ukrainian custody was returned to Belarus, where they are receiving psychological and medical care before proceeding to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation. The Defense Ministry did not say how many Russian servicemen returned, but released footage of more than a dozen soldiers chanting 'Russia' while carrying a national tricolor flag. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has confirmed the exchange, also without providing specifics on the number of repatriated service members. He noted that many were members of the Ukrainian military, National Guard, and border service, most of whom ended up in captivity back in 2022 during fighting in Kiev and Chernigov Regions. Ukrainian officials also said that some of the POWs were either gravely ill or injured. The swap is part of a broader agreement reached at the Istanbul talks on June 2. The sides had agreed on an exchange involving, in total, approximately 1,200 prisoners each and the transfer of thousands of remains. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow handed over to Kiev around 6,000 bodies and received the remains of 57 of its soldiers.
News.com.au
13-06-2025
- News.com.au
Ukrainians beg for news of missing soldiers as prisoners return
Amid the screaming sirens of ambulances bringing Ukrainian prisoners back from Russia on Thursday, Yana Nepotribna struggled to make her voice heard as she yelled out to her husband. Denys Nepotribna could not hear his tearful 26-year-old wife in the din. And he was among the soldiers surprised to see the woman climb onto a two metre (6.5 feet) high wall to get a better view. Nepotribna fell into the arms of her husband and the other former prisoners surrounded them as though forming a protective shield around their reunion. She was then carried in the crowd having nearly lost conscious in the emotion of the moment. "I held on to him like a vulture," she told AFP. "He says he said something, but I don't remember what it was." The couple had one of the rare happy endings from the latest return of Ukrainians from Russian captivity. At least one other woman emerged from the crowd in tears, unable to find the soldier she had been looking for in the crowd. - Desperate soldiers' wives - Russia and Ukraine agreed at talks in Istanbul last week to each free more than 1,000 prisoners of war and to send back the bodies of war dead. All of those freed were wounded or aged under 25. The first stages of the swap took place on Monday and Tuesday, with Russia on Wednesday also handing back the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers killed since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. The oldest Ukrainian soldier freed on Thursday was 59, the youngest 22. They included some who had been listed as "missing in action," Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said. The freed soldiers were besieged by distraught families looking for news of missing fighters. Under the window of the building where the soldiers were taken, people held up banners with the pictures of missing soldiers. Dozens of identity pictures are also stuck to the walls. Families begged the returning troops to look at the images and shouted their names and brigade numbers hoping for news. Wounded soldiers, some without legs and other limbs, were pushed in wheelchairs. One looked at the pictures as he moved through the crowd. "That one is alive," he said after seeing one photo. One soldier walked through with a Ukrainian flag around his shoulders. "Mum, I am in Ukraine and I will soon be home," he shouted, in Russian, into a mobile phone. Cries of joy and tears of sadness were passed through other phones as other soldiers made their presence known. Iryna Melnyk said she found out during an exchange on Tuesday that her son, missing for the past two years, was alive. "Two men told me that he was alive and in captivity," said the 44-year-old. "I recorded them by video to show that my son is alive and that he must be saved," she added. "I showed a photo of my son. I said: 'Look. 57th Brigade. Melnik.' And he looked at me and and recognised my son," she said. The prisoner exchanges are one of the rare areas where the war rivals have been able to agree after more than three years of conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Ukrainian officials said more exchanges were expected in the coming days despite wrangling between the two sides. Russian state media showed Moscow's troops in camouflage chanting "Russia, Russia" with national flags around their shoulders as they returned on Thursday. According to a Ukrainian interior ministry estimate given in December, about 60,000 Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are considered missing in the chaos of the war. bur-pop/tw/jj
