Ilya Yashin, a respected critic of the Russian government who was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for criticizing that country's war against Ukraine, has been transferred from the prison he was in until now - to an unknown location, his lawyer Tatjana Solomina said today.
Yashin is one of the few opposition leaders who remained in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. He was arrested in 2022 on the basis of a YouTube video in which he talked about the massacre in Bucha, north of Kiev.
In the announcement made by Solomina, there is no additional information, but it is stated that several more convicts, imprisoned for criticizing the army or "extremist" activities, i.e. working for the organization of the deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny, have been moved.
Among them is Oleg Orlov, the president of the human rights organization Memorial, who was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Aleksandra Skočilenko, a musician sentenced to seven years in prison for posting messages against civilian victims in Ukraine over price signs in a supermarket, was transferred.
The same thing happened with Ljilja Čaniševa and Ksenija Fadejeva, regional coordinators of the organization led by Navalny. Both were sentenced to nine years in prison.
Memorial announced today that Kevin Link, a German-born Russian citizen sentenced to four years in prison for allegedly passing sensitive information to the German secret services, has also been transferred.
There is speculation on social networks that a prisoner exchange may be in the works.
Critics of the Kremlin advocate exchanges that would lead to the release of Russian political prisoners.
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