MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov imprisoned in Russia on charges of plotting terror attacks in Crimea, is presumably among detainees to be exchanged with Kiev, Pavel Chikov, the head of the Agora International Human Rights Group whose lawyers defended the director, told reporters.

"On May 13, charges were filed against Sentsov, as well as Gennady Afanasyev, Alexander Kolchenko and Alexey Chirniy, of setting up a terrorist cell. Sentsov was imprisoned for 20 years, the others - for 7-10 years each," he said. "Alexander Kolchenko was defended by lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina. Alexey Chirniy was defended by lawyer Ilya Novikov. Together with Sentsov, they are presumably about to be released," Chikov added.

Preparations for exchange of detainees between Moscow and Kiev intensified after Vladimir Zelensky was elected Ukrainian President. The active stage of negotiations and formalization of legal procedures regarding the citizens of the two countries to be put on the list started a couple of weeks ago. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the exchange would be large-scale and can serve as a step towards improving the bilateral relationship.

In late August 2015, Oleg Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film Gamer, was found guilty of terrorism in Russia. The North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced him to 20 years behind bars on charges of setting up a terrorist cell in Crimea and plotting terror attacks. In the spring of 2014, the group’s members carried out two terror attacks in Simferopol by torching the offices of Crimea’s Russian Community non-governmental organization and a regional office of the United Russia party. He served his sentence in Labytnangi in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region.