Russian activists released from prison and deported to Germany in biggest operation prisoner exchange Since the Cold War era, they have declared that they are confident that one day they will return to their homeland.
Speaking at a press conference in Bonn, three of the 16 prisoners released in exchange for seven Russian agents, including a murderer, expressed their gratitude to Western governments for making the swap a reality.
Two of them, opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was serving a 25-year sentence, and Ilya Yashin, who has been in prison since 2022 for criticizing the invasion of Ukraine, said they never agreed to leave the country.
“I want more than ever to return to my homeland”
“What happened on August 1 I do not see as a prisoner exchange, I see the operation as my illegal deportation from Russia against my will and I say frankly, more than anything, now I want to return to my homeland,” Yashin told reporters in Bonn.
He added that his duty, once released, was to continue the fight for freedom and democracy in his country. He was told that if he tried to return he would suffer the fate of Alexei Navalny, who died last year in a Russian prison camp under unclear circumstances.
He added that he was confident that the swap, negotiated by the United States and Germany in months of secret talks with Russia, had saved the lives of several of the 16 political prisoners who were freed.
“Other prisoners with health problems should have been exchanged before me,” Yassin said during an emotional speech to reporters, at one point taking off his glasses and appearing to blink back tears.
“Nobody asked for our consent”
Kara-Murza, who said he was certain he would never see his wife again and would die in a Russian prison, recalled being asked to write a plea for clemency to Vladimir Putin.
“I said that I do not consider him a legitimate president, that he is a dictator, usurper and murderer,” he said. “And that I will not sign any petition for mercy because I am not guilty of anything.”
His release a few days later came despite this. “Nobody asked our consent… and yet here we are,” Kara-Murza said.
When the plane carrying him and the other detainees to Ankara took off, he said the officer accompanying him told him to look carefully because he would never see his homeland again.
“And I laughed,” he said. “I told him, look, I’m a historian… I not only feel, I not only believe, I know that I’m going to go back to my country. And it’s going to happen a lot faster than you think.”
Source: Reuters
