- Kremlin critic Kara-Mursa thanks Scholz and calls Putin a "murderer"
Following his release as part of the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War, Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Mursa thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the German people. "It was no easy decision for Chancellor Scholz," Kara-Mursa said at a press conference in Bonn on Friday with other freed prisoners. A key part of the agreement with Russia was the release of the so-called Tiergarten murderer Vadim Krasikov from German custody.
Kara-Mursa: Prisoner exchange saved '16 lives
"Yesterday, 16 lives were saved," Kara-Mursa emphasized. "I don't believe there's anything more important in the world." The 42-year-old added that he wanted to "thank all the people in Germany who have been working and continue to work for the release of political prisoners."
"I feel like I'm in a movie: Yesterday I was still in prison, and today I'm by the beautiful banks of the Rhine in Bonn," Kara-Mursa described his feelings 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 would continue his resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin chief is "a dictator, an usurper, and a murderer," responsible for the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Russian detention, among other things, as well as the deaths of numerous Ukrainian children.
Russia and its ally Belarus, on the one hand, and Germany, the USA, and three other NATO countries, on the other, carried out the prisoner exchange on Thursday afternoon in the Turkish capital Ankara. Russia released 15 prisoners, including four with German citizenship.
The release of a German initially sentenced to death and later pardoned in Belarus was also achieved. According to Russian reports, eight Russian prisoners and two minors were flown back to Russia in exchange.
Opposition figure survived multiple poisoning attempts
Russian authorities arrested Kara-Mursa in April 2022 after he accused Russia of "war crimes" against Ukraine in a speech in the US. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. This was one of the longest sentences ever imposed on a critic of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
The 42-year-old suffers from a nervous system disorder. According to his statements, this is the result of several poisoning attempts. Investigations by media such as "Der Spiegel" and "Bellingcat" support Kara-Mursa's poisoning allegations.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the European Parliament for their support, as they have the power to assist the Commission in such matters."
"Given the contributions of various international bodies, including the European Parliament, we were able to secure a fair outcome for all parties involved."
