Russia | Oppositionists transferred from prison to unknown destinations

(Moscow) At least five opposition figures, as well as a Russian-German convicted of treason and an activist who “cooperated with Ukraine”, all imprisoned in Russia, have apparently been transferred in recent days to unknown destinations, an unusual phenomenon that has given rise to speculation about a possible imminent prisoner exchange.

Dozens of people have been sentenced to long prison terms by Russian courts for opposing the Kremlin and the military offensive against Ukraine, and Westerners are demanding their release.

In Russia, the transfer of prisoners after conviction to their place of confinement usually takes place under opaque conditions and several weeks can pass before it is known where they have been sent.

“No comment” from the Kremlin

But the fact that so many opponents imprisoned at different sites are being transferred at the same time is unusual.

Some observers were left speculating that a prisoner exchange involving Russian opponents and Americans held in Russia was in the works.

“It seems that we are on the verge of a very important exchange [et pas qu’avec les Américains] “, noted on Telegram the independent political scientist Tatiana Stanovaya, who has gone into exile.

The Kremlin does not usually comment on the status of potential prisoner swaps, which are usually made public without notice.

“We have no comment on this,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Vedomosti.

The United States and Russia have said they are actively discussing an exchange involving American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced earlier this month in a summary trial to 16 years in prison for espionage, drawing the ire of the White House.

President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has hinted that he wants the release of Vadim Krassikov, a Russian imprisoned in Germany for killing a former Chechen rebel commander, on Moscow’s orders according to a German court.

Five opponents and a Russo-German

The team of Ilya Yashin, sentenced in late 2022 to eight and a half years in prison for denouncing crimes attributed to Russia in Ukraine, announced on Telegram on Tuesday that he had “disappeared” from the prison where he was serving his sentence in the Smolensk region (West). According to his relatives, he is on his way “to an unknown destination”.

The day before, the NGO Memorial had said that Oleg Orlov, sentenced to two and a half years in prison for having denounced the Russian attack against Ukraine, had also vanished from the pre-trial detention center in Syzran, in the Samara region (West).

Ksenia Fadeyeva and Lilia Tchanycheva, two close associates of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, sentenced to nine and nine and a half years in prison respectively for “extremism”, were also taken from their places of detention.

On X, M’s husband^me Tchanycheva, Almaz Gatine, explained on Monday that the administration of the Berezniki prison in the Perm region (Urals), where she was serving her sentence, had informed him that his wife had left the facility on July 26, without being able to tell him where she was now.

As for Ksenia Fadeyeva, her support group claimed on Telegram on Monday that her lawyer had also been notified of her departure from a penal colony in the Novosibirsk region (Western Siberia).

Also on Telegram, the support group of the artist Alexandra Skotchilenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for a peaceful action, claimed that she had been transported from a pre-trial detention center in St. Petersburg (North-West) “supposedly” to Moscow.

Kevin Lik, a young Russian-German citizen convicted of treason, has been transferred out of his penal colony, independent media outlet SotaVision reported on Tuesday.

Finally, Daniil Krinari, an activist sentenced in April to five years in prison for “cooperating with Ukraine,” was taken from his prison in the Russian capital to an unknown location, the human rights organization OVD-Info announced.

NGOs regularly express concern about the conditions of detention of political prisoners in Russia, where all critical voices have been repressed since the February 2022 attack on Ukraine.

The Kremlin’s arch-enemy, Alexei Navalny, died in unclear circumstances in February 2024 in a high-security prison in the Arctic after being subjected to increasingly harsh conditions.