Prisoners released in a historic swap between Russia and the West have given their first reactions to the press.
Several prisoners have shared their first reactions after their release as part of the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the Cold War. 26 people were released on Thursday, August 1.
First public statements by prisoners
Russian state television has interviewed two former spies who returned to Moscow. Prior to their arrest in Slovenia in 2022, the two agents posed as Argentinian citizens and had allegedly used Slovenia as an operational base since 2017.
“We were threatened by Argentina, which wanted to take our children and give them up for adoption to another family.”Anna Dultseva, one of the freed spies, told Russian state television RU-RTR.
“But we had the feeling that the Slovenian special services were also doing everything possible to keep the children in Slovenia in order to keep us together”she adds.
Before their arrest in Slovenia in 2022, the couple posed as Argentinian nationals, running an art business to cover themselves. Anna had her own gallery that was running at low profitability, and her husband had a small start-up business.
In court, they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year and seven months in prison.
The children of spies do not speak Russian and, according to their parents, they only learned their nationality on the plane. That is why Vladimir Putin, who welcomed the family at the Moscow airport, greeted them in Spanish.
The West has traded Russian spies and assassin against journalists, political activists and a former American soldier.
Among the released activists is Ilya Yashin, who was serving a prison sentence for criticizing the war in Ukraine.
Upon his release in Germany, The Russian political opponent thanked his supporters during a live broadcast on his YouTube account, during which he also reaffirmed his commitment against the Russian invasion..
“It is very important for me to make my point of view known and to carry out anti-war educational activities among Russian citizens, those who remained in Russia.”he says.
Some of the released opponents, in their first interviews, emphasize that they did not sign the pardon request to Putin, that they did not agree to the exchange and that they consider what happened as an “illegal expulsion from the country.”
Many have already confirmed that they will continue their activities abroad.
Don’t use journalists as bargaining chips
According to the director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Jodie Ginsberg, The release of these Russian opponents does not mean that press freedom is improving in the countryand she also fears that this exchange could have harmful repercussions in the future.
“Our concern is that this does not set a precedent that would allow future governments to think that they can simply imprison innocent journalists and use them as bargaining chips for the release of prisoners abroad.”she explains.
She adds that Russia was the fourth country in the world to imprison the most journalists in 2023making it one of the most restrictive states for the press in the world.