Russian authorities have transferred five of Russia’s most prominent political prisoners and a Russian-German man convicted of treason to unknown destinations.
The transfers have taken place in recent days, and the bizarre phenomenon in the Russian prison system has sparked speculation of a possible imminent prisoner swap, AFP and DPA report, cited by Agerpres, antena3 reports.
In Russia, authorities generally transfer post-conviction prisoners to their final destinations under opaque conditions, often taking several weeks before revealing where they sent the convicts. However, the simultaneous transfer of six political opponents from different prisons is unusual.
Some observers suggest that a possible prisoner swap may be in the works, potentially involving Russian opponents and U.S. citizens detained in Russia.
“It seems we are on the eve of an important exchange (and not only with the Americans),” said Tatiana Stanovaia, an independent political scientist living in exile in the West, on Telegram.
“We are not commenting on this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Vedomosti.
FOR THE MOSTÂ IMPORTANT NEWS, FOLLOW US ONÂ TWITTER!
The U.S. and Russia have confirmed they are discussing a possible exchange involving U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was sentenced earlier this month to 16 years in prison for espionage. A verdict that sparked outrage in the White House.
President Vladimir Putin has hinted at seeking the release of Vadim Krasikov, a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a former Chechen rebel commander on Moscow’s orders.
Who are the opponents who “disappeared” in the Russian prison system?
Illya Yashin, sentenced in late 2022 to eight-and-a-half years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s crimes in Ukraine, has reportedly “disappeared” from the jail in the Smolensk region where he was serving his sentence, according to his team. They believe Yashin is on his way to an unknown destination.
The non-governmental organization Memorial reported that Oleg Orlov, sentenced to two and a half years for denouncing Russia’s attack on Ukraine, has also “vanished” from the Sizran temporary detention center in the Samara region.
Ksenia Fadeyeva and Lilia Kanysheva, close associates of deceased opposition activist Aleksei Navalnyi, were removed from their places of detention. Russian authorities sentenced Fadeyeva to nine years and Kanysheva to nine-and-a-half years for “extremism.” Kanysheva’s husband, Almaz Gatin, posted on X that the administration of the Berezniki prison in the Perm region informed him that his wife left the prison on July 26 without disclosing her current location. Fadeyeva’s support group reported on Telegram that her lawyer learned of her departure from a prison colony in the Novosibirsk region of western Siberia.
Aleksandra Skocilenko, sentenced to seven years in prison for a peaceful protest, was taken from a temporary detention center in St. Petersburg and presumably transferred to Moscow, according to her support group on Telegram.
Kevin Lik, a young man with Russian and German citizenship, was found guilty of treason. Russian authorities transferred him from the prison colony, according to the independent media platform SotaVision.
International media recall that Aleksei Navalnyi, the most prominent opponent of the Putin regime, died under unexplained conditions in February 2024 in a high-security prison in the Arctic region after enduring extremely harsh detention conditions.