Andrei Pivovarov was still sitting in prison two months ago near the Finnish border, in the Republic of Karelia in Russia.
At the weekend, he spoke in Helsinki at an event of Russian democracy activists, which was organized in support of Russian political prisoners.
Pivovarov says he is still getting used to freedom. He was released in August in a historically large prisoner exchange between Russia and the West.
– This is a new world for me. A world of information, colors and conflicts. I’m still getting used to it, Pivoravov describes his feelings.
Pivovarov’s plane was stopped
The now 43-year-old Pivovarov was imprisoned three years ago, in the fall of 2021, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At that time, Pivovarov was a marked man. He had just had to liquidate the Open Russia foundation he led, because its employees were threatened with prison due to the new law.
A former oligarch by Mikhail Khodorkovsky founded by the foundation had been the last major opposition organizations in Russia.
Pivovarov was on his way to Poland when he was arrested on the plane.
– The plane closed its doors and started taxiing to the runway, when suddenly the plane stopped and the pilot announced that the airport wanted the plane to turn back.
According to Pivovarov, a small white bus arrived next to the plane, and two security service men in suits got out of it. The men got on the plane and Pivovarov was asked to join the men. The men said “Security service. You are wanted. You are under arrest.”.
– I immediately realized that this will last a long time, because the attention directed at me was enormous.
Pivovarov believes he was purged from the landscape
Pivovarov spent a total of three years in prison. First one and a half years in the Krashnodar region in the Caucasus and after that in Karelia in Segeža.
Pivovarov says that he realized afterwards that the reason for his arrest was not the election, but apparently that the Russian security forces had been ordered to clear out unwanted persons before the start of the war in Ukraine.
– The government had already started preparing for what happened in February of the following year. The field was cleaned. Of course we didn’t realize it at the time. For me, the idea that Russia would start a war was impossible and ridiculous.
Karelian prisons are known for being unpleasant
According to Pivovorov, the conditions in the prisons were miserable. Karelia in particular was an unpleasant place, because there is the harshest attitude towards prisoners.
Life in Karelia prison was controlled. Every step was recorded on video and all papers were checked, says Pivovarov.
– You will be given a prison uniform and you will have a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Pivovarov says that the worst part of his treatment as a political prisoner in Karelia was that he was not allowed to speak to people.
When he had to go to the doctor, who was at the other end of the prison, two guards made sure that no one even looked at Pivovarov as he walked across the prison.
– There couldn’t be a single person who would even look me in the eyes. And didn’t get to say hello. If this happened, he was yelled at and turned on his back.
Pivovarov believes Navalny was killed
During the time Pivovarov was in prison, another Russian opposition politician died Alexei Navalnyhe too in prison. Pivovarov believes that Navalnyi was killed because prisoners are completely at the mercy of guards in prisons.
– If they want to torture or kill, they can do it. The system allows it, surveillance cameras notwithstanding. There are dark corners where the cameras can’t see.
Pivovarov says he survived prison because he made a schedule for himself. He played sports in the prison’s small yard, ran, did exercises, read books and letters, answered the letters he received and wrote articles.
He says that in his freedom he has now realized that he still couldn’t understand the world properly through letters. After his release, he has followed the Ukrainian war through videos, among other things. Seeing the ravages of war has been one of the biggest shocks for him.
– I have seen destroyed Ukrainian cities. I see images that connect me only to World War II. And I understand that this is now a reality. It’s hard to imagine. When you see it live, it’s not the same as seeing it in text.
Pivovarov predicts that the current Russian regime will not withstand the consequences of the war of aggression it has started. He hopes that one day he can return to his homeland. Now he lives in exile in Germany and continues his work to overthrow the current Russian regime.
– I am sure that Russia’s power will change. I believe that Putin put himself on the edge of the abyss when he started this war. And into this abyss he collapses.