she said she was honored and promised to officially, officially accept the nomination next week. also, in the coming days, we expect the candidate to announce who she will choose as her vice president for this presidential race. meanwhile, the political prisoners that russia returned to america, and i will remind you that they are the wall street journal journalist evan hershkovich, the journalist of the tatar-bashkir service of radio svoboda alsu kurmashova and the american marine paul wheelen arrived in the united states this night. more. about this one event, as well as an expert review of how this exchange will affect ukraine, was prepared for us by yulia yarmolenko. yuli, congratulations. congratulations, maria. so, how did the usa meet the hostages of the kremlin, what were the emotions and what is happening to them now? you know, maria, tonight at andrew's base, there were a lot of tears, a lot of emotion and a lot of hugs around washington, and the president of the united states, joe biden, and the vice president, kamela harris, came in person to say congratulations. of freed

americans, but probably the most simple emotions will be remembered, the emotions of meeting these freed americans with their relatives, in particular the hugs of evan hershkovich with his mother ella, who in the past 16 months since evan was detained in russia, tirelessly advocated for his release, this is definitely a reunification with the family our colleague from radio svoboda lasa kurmasheva, who was received in russia for nine months, will especially remember how her daughter, miriam, whose birthday is today, ran up to her... with the words, i don't believe, why are you here also, it will be remembered definitely paul whelan's conversation, he's a former marine, he, he's been held in russia for over 5.5 years, and his conversations with the president of the united states, joe biden, and biden even took the united states badge off his jacket and gave it to poluvin. now all these americans, they have arrived in texas, in texas there is an evaluation of their physical health. health, they

will undergo rehabilitation there, but certainly there were a lot of emotions the day before here at the andrus base. yulia, within a day after the announcement of these news, we also see criticism of this exchange, what are the caveats and what consequences do experts say? you know, maria is the main one, the criticism is that it could set a dangerous precedent where dictators like putin and regimes. such as russia can continue to kidnap american citizens for the purpose of trading them for dangerous criminals or spies, as happened this time. it's certainly not a new practice, but this particular exchange drew a lot of attention because it was the largest since the cold war, and one of the people being traded was was actually a convicted murderer , krasikov, and it drew a whole new attention to the situation, particularly when...

the president of the united states, donald trump, in an interview with fox news, said that this was a victory for putin, but he said, i will not criticize, because after all, the americans were able to return home, and this is precisely this and this is a closed circle, which is very difficult to break now, in particular , the history professor of the catholic university said this in an interview with our colleague kateryna lisinova today michael kimich. let's listen. you definitely don't want to set a precedent. it is quite clear that russia has taken these people as hostages, they are not just prisoners, they are hostages to get something for them, and under no circumstances should this be allowed to happen in the future, but at the same time it is difficult to say whether it was a bad or wrong decision, partly because of the people involved, it's good that they came home, also the number of people sent to russia was far less than the number of people sent back to united states and several other countries. so... at least as far as the biden administration

is concerned, it was a pretty good negotiation, but definitely not a precedent you 'd want to set. there is no way around this criticism. and you know, maria, precisely this criticism was addressed directly to president joe biden by the american journalists who gathered this night at the andrews base. joe biden said that certainly the negotiations were quite difficult, and it was all made possible by very difficult decisions on the part of allies such as germany and slovenia. who still had to release accused criminals, but he said that he absolutely did not agree that those americans who had already been detained should be kept behind bars just to prevent further use of this practice by russia or others dangerous players. the solution, he said, might be to try to encourage americans not to travel to countries where they could potentially become that bargaining chip. this is actually how he reacted to the cry yesterday. it

happened all the time in history, my task is, firstly, that they do not detain them, and if they do, that we can them. return, i do not support the idea that you can let those people rot in prison, because other people can be captured too, we will send notices to all countries for our citizens, about countries where you should not travel, what to do and what not to do. president biden's position was heard. yulia, we know that the negotiations have been going on for a long time, why did putin agree to this exchange now and how will it affect ukraine? you know maria, one of the opinions that i saw among experts is, in particular, the opinion of semagrin from the center for the analysis of european politics, he says that it is possible that in this way putin wants to demonstrate to the west that he is supposedly ready to negotiate and negotiate in good faith, and in particular he can he would like

to show that he can negotiate with the west in good faith, and in this way, simgreen believes, it can strengthen the voices that have now called. ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table. at the same time, semgreen says that it is absolutely impossible to engage in such rhetoric, because even if putin wants to demonstrate that he is ready to negotiate, it does not mean that he is ready to actually conduct these negotiations in good faith. and also other experts of maria do not agree with this, they believe that in fact the negotiations for the release, for the exchange of prisoners, this is a completely different thing, it is a practice that lasts for decades, which has been happening since the cold war, and... you can't it should be compared or connected with those communications that washington can conduct with moscow regarding the russian war against ukraine. in particular, he said about it to our colleague kateryna lisunova, former united states ambassador to ukraine john herbst. i do not see any direct influence,

it is even difficult to see an indirect influence on ukraine and the war. a spy who just looks like an assassin is an old thing that happens all the time, and it is not necessarily related to other components of relations between countries. maria, yesterday this question was also asked of jake salevan, the national security adviser of the usa, who actually took care of these negotiations, he said in particular that there were no direct contacts with the head of russia vladimir putin. was not, and he also said that it cannot be said that this can somehow improve relations between the two countries, the position of the united states remains unchanged, regarding russian aggression against ukraine. let's hear what he actually said yesterday at the white house. no interaction

directly with vladimir putin. there was extensive interaction with russian officials. i 'm not going to go into detail because these channels are sensitive. and they must be guarded for this very reason, since the presence of these sensitive channels enables us to receive such the results we see no connection between negotiations for the release of hostages or prisoners with any potential diplomacy regarding the war in ukraine. these are different directions. one actually concerns the practical issue of the exchange, the other is a much more complex issue, where the ukrainians will play the main role, and the us will consult closely with its allies to under... thank you yuli for your work, i will remind you about the exchange of political prisoners yuliya yarmolenko told us about the spies between the united states and russia. but in congress, while welcoming the return

of american citizens, notes that it is necessary to break the cycle where russia illegally detains foreigners to use them as a bargaining chip and return its spies in return. their unjust capture will be an eternal reminder of the russian government's longstanding fear of free people and a free press. the continued imprisonment of american citizens and innocent russians is direct evidence of vladimir putin's hostility to the united states and his contempt for the rule of law. no serious action for avoiding future hostage-taking by russia, iran, and other states hostile to the united states, the cost of this hostage diplomacy will continue to rise. we. we renew our call for the return of all persons illegally detained by the kremlin. we recognize that the exchange of hardened russian criminals for innocent americans has little effect on putin's judgmental behavior. evan hershkovich, paul whelan, ausu kurmashova and vladimir karamurza are heading home to their

loved ones, grateful to president biden and vice president harris for their leadership. we will never let putin win. we need to find. a way to break the cycle of innocent people being imprisoned in russia on trumped-up charges. they are used by putin as a bargaining chip to secure. the release of cold-blooded killers who acted on his behalf. in the future, russia must pay a heavy price for turning innocent people into pawns of its corrupt regime. today's good news is also a reminder that we are facing a dangerous and an unprincipled opponent in the person of vladimir putin. he uses innocent americans as pawns, those who want to please him. or simply turn a blind eye to his demands in ukraine, should remember the suffering of paul wheelen, his entire family and millions of

ukrainians living with the consequences of putin's actions. and to another topic. the united states did not recognize the victory of current venezuelan president nicolas maduro in the election. us secretary of state anthony blinken said that opposition candidate edmundo gonzález urrutia won more votes and urged maduro to hand over. power to a rival. in a statement on the jdepu website, blinkin also called for negotiations between the government and the opposition regarding a peaceful transfer of power. the national electoral council of venezuela, previously loyal to the current government, officially announced nicolas maduro as the winner. democratic countries have called on the electoral council to publish detailed vote counts, but this has not yet happened. the special representative of the united states for the economic recovery of ukraine, peni pritzker

, completes her mandate on this position at the discussion of the future of the ukrainian economy at the brookings institute , pritzkers made a speech about the work of her team. the official optimistically assessed the economic future of ukraine and cited several facts to confirm kyiv's progress in recent months. today, considering. the scale of russian aggression ukraine is faced with an urgent need to reveal its full potential and break once and for all with the post-soviet economic model. we know that vladimir putin's model is corrupt, it is lawlessness, it is economic it's a mess, it's an anti-democratic and repressive model, it's built on oligarchy and it's collapsing, and it's not the future the ukrainian people want, so the country is doing the hard work of building a new economy even as it fights an existential battle for survival. despite impossible circumstances

, ukraine is moving forward in its economic recovery. despite the war with russia, ukraine's gdp grew by 5% last year. investments increased by 17% and tax revenues by 25% for the year. in 2023 , more than 37,000 new ones were registered enterprises, more than before the war. and since september , more than two. thousands of ships transported 60 million tons of grain and steel to world markets across the black sea. in 2023 , 8% more jobs appeared in the technology sector. and just this month, private equity firm horizon capital took its latest ukrainian tech company to unicorn status with a valuation of more than $1 billion. without a doubt, putin sees this success and is very worried. in addition, the official presented the pritzker plan, five conditions for successful recovery of ukraine. first,

she says, ukraine should urgently develop government planning for a unified reconstruction project with an approach where the entire reconstruction is one big simultaneous project with clear priorities. currently, efforts to restore are hindered by the lack of coordination between various ukrainian ministries regarding planning, pritzker believes. and without a mechanism for determining priorities, the composition. understand the exact needs and coordinate the actions of countries willing to help. secondly, ukraine needs fast increase the number of finished projects. after there will be a single reconstruction project for ukraine, teams will be needed ready to prepare these projects for investment and implementation. for this, the ukrainian government can use advanced digitalization so that any interested parties can see the progress and opportunities of public and private reconstruction. thirdly, ukraine must continue. this is important for large-scale investment and a thriving economy.

pritzker names customs and the tax service as the most problematic sectors and emphasizes on the importance of strengthening nabu and sap, as guardians of the future of ukraine, as a desirable place for doing business. the fourth point is greater attraction of world capital. in the long run, it is fair that the reconstruction should be largely financed by russia. but private capital can accelerate ukraine's economic recovery. to attract such investments, the official advises expanding war risk insurance and assessing risks separately for different regions of ukraine, depending on how much they were affected by the war. and that's it. the last ones are return of human capital. currently, ukraine does not have the labor force necessary for recovery - pritzker believes. but people will return and the country must prepare for the physical, psychological and social support of citizens after the war. there will also be a need to engage the workforce strategically and retrain women to fill positions historically held by men.

pritzkar says that such a vision of ukraine is ambitious, but achievable. and the world should help kyiv implement it. the ukrainian dream into reality, but the country itself must take the initiative. given your experience in this position, how would you assess the efforts of the ukrainian side, namely their fulfillment of obligations in these joint efforts? i think our partnership is working, but like any partnership, there are nuances and there are things that we are constantly working out between the two countries, but at the end of the day, they have to take the initiative. we can't... force them, it 's their country, it's not our country, we're here to support and help and to share our experiences frankly, what has worked in the past and what hasn't worked in the past, so i would say that the ukrainians were good partners, but this does not mean that we always agree on everything. meanwhile , american scientists and ukrainian

anti-corruption activists joined forces to help ukraine go through the reconstruction process transparently and without corruption. the princeton school of public and international relations, together with the anti-corruption center at the kyiv-myhylian academy, created a comprehensive project that trains specialists in ukraine and the usa, who will oversee the reconstruction process and introduce foreign investors with legal nuances of work in ukraine. yulia yarmolenko researched the topic. how to attract western investments to ukraine and at the same time reduce the probability of corruption during reconstruction, the answer is offered in one of the most prestigious universities. usa in princeton. in june, the school of public and international relations launched its newest project , a detailed database of ukrainian laws related to reconstruction. i believe that this will help private companies make easier decisions about participating in reconstruction, because they will know what the legal situation is, what are the vulnerabilities but also the opportunities.

the american, together with ukrainian colleagues, undertook to analyze more than four hundred laws. a company in the coalition for integrity, which audited the work of lawyers, says they want there to be fewer obstacles to investment in ukraine. the base is intended for use by companies from the private and public sector, wherever they are located, not only in the usa, to contribute to the reconstruction of ukraine. we realized that now is a good time to present a constructive instrument so that when the hostilities cease, there were no more refusals. the database is only one part. of a large project that began in 2022. then , oksana nysterenko, the director of the anti- corruption scientific and educational center at the kyiv-mohyla academy, came to princeton as an invited researcher. together with professor weidner, who heads the innovation for successful societies program, they undertook the development of a comprehensive initiative to ensure that the recovery of ukraine was fair and transparent. we started with the development

of a training program for civil servants and specialists from civil society who from theses... timut for the reconstruction process. in the summer of 2023, oksana conducted a pilot course in kyiv. you can make cool systems, dream is transparent, but inside is still a person. and these people very often lack knowledge and skills, especially when the war started, many people left, women, many men went to the front. and this sector has been updated a lot. people lack knowledge. both ukrainian and american specialists are trained. elements of the program are taught at princeton and work. over the online course of governance under rebuilding time. oksana says that both the training of specialists and the familiarization of foreign investors with the ukrainian context are all pieces of one big puzzle. the main idea is that the more people there are in ukraine, yes, who work in the field of reducing corruption

risks, they will form in a certain way the political will and their direct leadership, because it will be very... difficult to try to agree on something with them to convince them, the more western experts who work for ukraine in various missions, international organizations, and americans, and lawyers, know the context of ukraine and also have this knowledge, the more they can influence, thus change and shape political will and not try to be made of them, let’s say, try to tell them what is not there, or present it as some success that is not success. and the more informed businessmen are, to understand where there may be collisions, insidious things in terms of legislation, or vice versa, where everything is clear to them, the more opportunity there will be for people who wanted... to make money from western investors, the less opportunity there will be to do it . professor weiner has spent many years researching governance in societies that have experienced

conflict, war, or disaster. she says: every crisis creates unprecedented opportunities for development and success. she is convinced that in a decade the experience of ukraine can become an example for other post-crisis societies, and she explains her personal interest in the project simply. any american was. you are very interested and very sympathetic to the challenges that people face on the ground, so if we can help in any way, i think we should do it. from washington, yulia yarmolenko, oleksii osyka, voice of america. during the war, when millions of ukrainians were forced to leave their homeland, there are also those who returned from emigration. a us citizen has been living and working in sumy, 30 km from the border with russia, for almost a year. polina oliynyk lived in ohio for almost 16 years, but after a full-scale invasion, the girl decided

to return to her native sumy. olena adamenko and daryna ruban will tell what prompted her to leave her peaceful american life and move to a war-torn country. in polina oliynyk, a 27-year-old citizen of the united states, has been living in the city of sumy since august 2023. very often i meet people i remember from childhood, and they approach me like this, they say: folya, it's you, and what are you doing here. now she teaches english to children and teenagers, and at the same time takes entrance exams for sumy and kyiv universities. in the united states, where polina moved with her mother at the age of 10, she received a bachelor's degree in anthropology from ohio state university in the city of columbus, where she lived, and for she did not work as a profession, but was a manager of a beauty salon. in america, sometimes if you get a bachelor’s degree, you won’t get a major, it’s just a general education, but to work as

an anthropologist, i need a master’s degree or higher, here in ukraine, as i understand it, you can finish a bachelor’s degree and directly to work, because you studied exactly the specializations you chose in ukraine. polina wants to study to be an artist, this is her childhood dream. and i always loved to draw, and the time came that, well, i'm already, i'm already an adult, i'm already i graduated from the university, why can’t i follow this dream, well, will it work or not, on polina’s hand, the realization of another childhood dream, to get a tattoo, it’s true, she realized it back in america, with the help of 200 uah, all my favorites.. . no woman, i came to this studio where i was tattooed, i came, all these photos were printed, and i had uah 200 for lesya ukrainka, i

said, sorry, i don't have a better photo, they are very, very good for me. they made this portrait perfectly. in the united states, polina spent 16 years of life, but she admits that she was always drawn to sums, to her own father, relatives and childhood friends. i was born here, you can say in this church, i was here, as it is in the ukrainian language, khrystina, and then my grandparents live very close here, i always have two sisters, half brothers, uncle, aunt, they everyone is close here. the girl decided to return to ukraine four years ago, but then the pandemic got in the way, then a permanent job appeared, so polina did not... travel until the outbreak began a full-scale invasion, my mom and dad to me too, they don't talk, they

broke up a long time ago, but she called him there two or three days before the full-scale war, and she called him, she said: well yura, you will have a war, he will say: i just bought a washing machine, everything is perfect with me, what are you saying, everything is perfect for me here, everything is calm here in sumy, no one thinks that everything will be perfect, already on february 24 according to the web cameras that were installed in the center of sumy, the girl followed the movement of russian military equipment through the streets of her hometown, i dad wrote: where are you, what are you doing, you are now, well, you are alive now, dad did not answer me, and i just sat there for two or three days, did not sleep. i was just looking at who was on the street, what was going there, i was just so scared, and i won't say that it was the same level as you were scared here, because i can't, i don't know. how did you

survive all this here, because here in sumy and in other places, when the tanks themselves moved down the street, i don’t know how you got through it here, after the liberation of sumy region, polina decided to come to her homeland, because i couldn’t to understand why my family did not want to leave, for example, my father, after the occupation ended here, he immediately... went to work, continued his life, continued working, continued to go to the country, there some vegetables, there came here right on independence day in 2022, i saw this parade there, all the broken tanks, polina returned to

america within a week. and a year later she came to sumy permanently, the city of columbus is a city of millionaires, but it is a very, very large area, if you want to go to another parts of the city, you need a car, but here in sumy, everything is very convenient here, if you want to go to a museum, where is a cafe, i can just walk wherever i want, and there is a cafe, it will be 20 minutes by car , it's just inconvenient, she's been stuck in sums for almost a year and admits that she still has problems. with ukrainian, which i completely forgot during my life in america, i prepared there through duol, but it was a very small preparation, er, in general, these first month, it was very difficult for me, just to go on the minibus, and i, for example, i understand which number goes where, but i want to say that i need

to get off when i'm riding a minibus. now polina continues to study ukrainian and is waiting for the results of the entrance exams. due to the shelling of the area where the father's apartment is located, they moved together to the outskirts of sumy. but despite the constant worries and danger, polina does not plan to return to the usa, at least not yet. olena adamenko, daryna ruban, for voice of america, sumyshchyna. friends, this will be our farewell, thank you for trusting the voice of america, have a great weekend and see you next week.

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look at the news. good health ma'am. panovo, they call me mykola veresin, a sharp presentation of facts and competent opinions, for example, if mykola veresin had done this, he would have gone to prison, a special view of events in ukraine, so it is not necessary to say that the fish is rotting from the head, no, no from the head, and beyond it, then who is china, to me, to me the heart hurts, all this in the informational marathon with mykola veresny, saturday 17:10, sunday 18:15 at espresso. the verkhovna rada regularly adopts new laws. but how do these changes affect our lives? we have analyzed the new resolutions to inform you about the latest changes in ukrainian legislation. how do legislative norms change our lives, what should we prepare for? leading lawyers of the aktum bar association will answer these and other questions that concern ukrainians. watch every tuesday at 7:55 in the legal expertise program on the espresso tv channel.