Exclusive-Jailed Russian dissidents call for mass prisoner release as part of a peace deal with Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: Moscow city councillor Alexei Gorinov, accused of "disseminating clearly false information about Russia's army", holds a placard reading "Do you still need this war?" as he stands inside a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia July 8, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -Eleven jailed Russian dissidents have written to world leaders appealing for a mass release of Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian civilians held by Russia - some 10,000 people in total, they say - as part of any peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.

In the letter, published via Reuters, the dissidents said that alongside prisoners of war, thousands of Ukrainian civilian "hostages" were being held by Russia, mostly in Russian-held areas of Ukraine.