Exchanged prisoner Yashin condemns his 'illegal expulsion' from Russia

Russian dissidents Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Andrei Pivovarov hold a press conference after being freed in a multi-country prisoner swap in Bonn, Germany, August 2, 2024. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

BONN, Germany (Reuters) -Ilya Yashin, a Russian opposition activist freed from jail in Thursday's prisoner swap, pledged to carry on his political fight against President Vladimir Putin from abroad, but expressed fury at having been deported against his will.

The prisoner swap, the largest since the Cold War, saw eight Russians, including a convicted murderer, exchanged for 16 prisoners in Russian and Belarusian jails, many of them dissidents. It was hailed as a win by Western leaders who feared for the dissidents' lives after the death in jail last year of politician Alexei Navalny.