He was part of the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War: Vladimir Kara-Mursa appeared relaxed at the press conference after his arrival in Cologne. The deal saved 16 lives.
After his release as part of the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War, Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Mursa thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Germans. “It was not an easy decision for Chancellor Scholz,” said Kara-Mursa on Friday at a press conference in Bonn with other released prisoners. An important part of the agreement with Russia was the release of the so-called Tiergarten murderer Vadim Krasikow from German custody.
Kremlin critic Kara-Mursa: Prisoner exchange has “saved 16 lives”
“Yesterday, 16 human lives were saved,” Kara-Mursa said. “I don’t think there is anything more important in the world.” The 42-year-old added that he wanted to “thank all the people in Germany who have fought for the release of political prisoners and who continue to do so.”
“I feel like I’m in a movie: yesterday I was still in prison, and today I’m on the beautiful banks of the Rhine in Bonn,” said Kara-Mursa, describing his emotional state after his release on Thursday. “It’s all very surreal.”
“Putin is a dictator, a murderer”
At the same time, Kara-Mursa made it clear that he is continuing his resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin chief is “a dictator, a usurper and a murderer” who is responsible, among other things, for the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison camp and for the deaths of numerous Ukrainian children.
Russia and its ally Belarus, as well as Germany, the USA and three other NATO states, carried out the prisoner exchange on Thursday afternoon in the Turkish capital Ankara. Russia released 15 prisoners, including four prisoners with German passports.
The release of a German who was initially sentenced to death in Belarus and later pardoned was also achieved. According to Russian sources, eight Russian prisoners and two minors were flown to Russia in return.
The opposition member survived several poison attacks
Russian authorities detained Kara-Mursa in April 2022 after he accused Russia of “war crimes” against Ukraine in a speech in the United States. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. It was one of the longest prison sentences ever imposed on a critic of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
The 42-year-old suffers from a nervous system disorder. According to him, this is the result of several poison attacks. Research by media outlets such as “Der Spiegel” and “Bellingcat” supports Kara-Mursa’s poisoning allegations.
Source: Stern
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