Ilya Yashin was released from Russia – against his will

Along with 15 other people, the Russian activist Ilya Yashin was released from Russian captivity on Thursday.
Now he states that he did not want to be released and did not give his consent.
– It is about an illegal deportation from Russia – against my will, he tells reporters in Germany.

Russian activist and Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison for criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine. On Thursday, he was released in the prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia.

Did not give his permission to leave Russia

At a press conference in Bonn, Germany, Jasjin says he was exchanged against his will.

– I did not give my permission to be sent outside of Russia, Yashin said.

He does not want to describe the prisoner exchange as an exchange, instead he means that he was expelled from Russia against his will. On Thursday, he was taken from Russia to the Turkish capital, Ankara, where the actual exchange took place.

– My first wish in Ankara was to buy a ticket and go back to Russia, Yashin said.

Yashin: Encourages Putin to take more prisoners

The now released Yashin warned at the press conference that the prisoner exchange gives President Putin an incentive to take more political prisoners.

Yashin was a longtime ally of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison earlier this year. The reason why he did not want to be exchanged was that a life in exile means that he cannot pursue his political struggle inside Russia anymore.

– I refused to leave Russia when I was threatened with arrest, I see myself as a Russian politician, a patriot, Yashin said.

He also states that he refused to sign President Putin’s request for clemency, which must be signed at an exchange, as Russia cannot deport its own citizens by law. At the same time, Jasjin states that he understands that the exchange was a dilemma.

– It is difficult, in exchange for letting a murderer go free, 16 innocent people were released.