British citizen released from Russian prison thought he was being ‘led to his execution’

A British citizen, who was freed in the biggest prisoner exchange with Russia since the Cold War, has told Sky News he thought he was being led to his death.

Speaking in Bonn, Germany, Vladimir Kara-Murza, said on the day he was taken from his prison cell in Siberia to be transferred to the Russian capital, he had no idea he was part of the prisoner swap.

“The night I was taken from my cell in Siberia, as I now know to be taken in preparation for this, I was almost certain I was being led out to be executed,” he told Sky News on Friday, a day after he was freed.

The British-Russian national, was serving a 25-year sentence for treason and had spent over two years imprisoned in Russia.

During this time, Mr Kara-Murza said he only spoke to his wife once and his three children twice in two years and four months.

He is now set to be reunited with his family tomorrow morning.

“I don’t think I will be able to find the right words to even begin to express how I feel about seeing them tomorrow morning,” he said.

“I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to that moment… plans and thoughts about the future haven’t really been on the top of my mind.”

Some two dozen people from countries including Russia, the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Belarus were exchanged on Thursday – a decision that was met with some criticism from German citizens after the government agreed to release Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the 2019 murder of a former Chechen militant in Berlin.

Addressing those who have been critical of the swap, Mr Kara-Murza said the only thing that matters is that human lives were saved by going through with the agreement.

“Easy decisions only come in dictatorships where everything is decided by the click of a finger of one person,” he said, “decisions in a democracy are always difficult”.

“[But] the difference between dictatorships and democracies is that in democratic systems, the highest value is attached to human life,” Mr Kara-Murza said.

‘I will return to Russia’

Despite having left Russia, Mr Kara-Murza said he was certain he would one day return, and is well aware of the dangers this could pose.

“The word ‘safe’ is not a word we as Russian opposition politicians have in our vocabulary,” he said, adding: “But I love my country, I believe in what I do, no matter how much these words have been soiled by Kremlin propaganda.”

He was also critical of how Vladimir Putin currently rules the country, which he said, does not represent the entire population.

“Russia deserves so much better than being led by a corrupt, authoritarian dictatorship. I think Russia deserves to be a normal democratically run country,” he said.

“I have absolutely no doubt that will come, and as a politician, I will do everything I can to bring that day a little bit closer.”

Speaking during a news conference earlier on Friday, Mr Kara-Murza mentioned the war in Ukraine – which the Kremlin refers to as its special military operation.

“Kremlin propaganda wants to make it seem that every person in Russia supports the war in Ukraine, this is a lie,” he said.

“Please do not allow yourselves to be persuaded that this Kremlin lie has anything to do with real life.”

Mr Kara-Murza spoke alongside Ilya Yashin and Andrei Pivovarov who were also released as part of the prisoner swap deal between the US and Russia and equally critical of the Russian president’s regime.

Mr Pivovarov encouraged leaders of Western countries to “turn to the people, not the power”, adding: “We should do everything to make our country free and democratic.”

While Mr Yashin said his aim is to return to Russia and work towards a “free” country.

The prisoner swap also included US Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and US marine Paul Whelan.

But a number of political prisoners were not included in the swap.

In his first words after touching down on US soil, Mr Gershkovich spoke about those still in Russian prisons who are not known publicly.

Urging for their release, he told The Guardian: “I just spent a month in prison in Yekaterinburg and basically everybody I sat with is a political prisoner, and nobody knows them publicly.

Read more:
Putin welcomes Russian prisoners back to Moscow
Biden hails Russia prisoner swap

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“I think it would be good to see if we can potentially do something about them as well.”

Mr Kara-Murza also speculated that Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony in February, might still be alive had the West agreed the swap with the Kremlin sooner.

Those returned to Russia as part of the swap included a “sleeper cell” couple, prolific cybercriminals and an assassin.