Released Russian Opposition Activists Vow to Continue Political Fight from Abroad

Russian opposition activists, recently released and deported to Germany, pledge to continue their political efforts from abroad. Ilya Yashin, imprisoned for criticizing the Ukraine war, expressed his commitment to continuing his activism. Vladimir Kara-Murza speculated that dissident Alexei Navalny might still be alive if the prisoner swap had occurred sooner.

Russian opposition activists, released from jail in Russia and deported to Germany in a major prisoner swap on Thursday, vowed to continue their political activities from abroad.

Ilya Yashin, who had been imprisoned for criticizing the war in Ukraine, told reporters in Bonn, "We will continue political activity, we understand our responsibility. I don't know how to do Russian politics outside of Russia, but I will try to learn."

In a separate statement, activist Vladimir Kara-Murza speculated that fellow dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony in February, might still be alive had the West agreed to the swap sooner. Kara-Murza acknowledged the difficulty for Germany in agreeing to release Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of a 2019 murder in Berlin. "It's hard for me not to think that, maybe if these processes had somehow moved quicker...if there had been less resistance that the Scholz government had to overcome in terms of freeing Krasikov, then maybe Alexei would have been here and free," he said.

(With inputs from agencies.)