Putin ally held in Ukraine suggests prisoner swap for Mariupol forces - video

FILE PHOTO: Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of Opposition Platform - For Life political party, attends a court hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine May 13, 2021. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

(Reuters) - Pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk appealed in a video released by Ukraine's security service on Monday to be handed over to Moscow in a prisoner swap for Ukrainian forces and civilians trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Medvedchuk made the appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a video published by the SBU security service on Facebook. It was unclear how freely Medvedchuk was speaking in the video.