Andrei Pivovarov called on the West to “extend a hand” to the Russians

Western countries should “extend a hand” to Russian citizens and ease sanctions to help them see the world and get an education, Andrei Pivovarov, the former HEAD of Open RUSSIA (an organization considered undesirable in Russia and banned in Russia), said during a press conference in Bonn.

He urged not to associate all Russians with the policies pursued by the country's authorities . According to Pivovarov, easing restrictions will help debunk the “myth of a besieged fortress.”

Pivovarov also thanked everyone who made efforts to exchange prisoners, specifically mentioning German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Western sanctions against Russia should be directed against individuals, and not the entire country as a whole, said journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, released during a prisoner exchange (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent).

“Very often, sanctions from Western democratic countries are no longer directed against [representatives of the current authorities], but against the entire country, against all Russian citizens. This, firstly, in my opinion, is extremely unfair, and secondly, counterproductive,” he believes. Kara-Murza added that he would work to fix this.

“As Saltykov-Shchedrin once said, we have a big problem in Russia - we often confuse “Fatherland” and “Your Excellency,” these two concepts. Unfortunately, in the West, many people also confuse these two concepts in relation to Russia,” Kara-Murza said.

He noted that in prison he received letters with statements from Western officials, boiling down to the fact that “in Russia everyone is for Putin.” “It was very strange to read that I don’t exist,” Kara-Murza said, pointing out that he takes a different position and that many people hold anti-war views.

Another participant in the exchange and press conference, Ilya Yashin (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent), said that there are many convicts in the country who can be classified as “political prisoners”; they are “largely devoid of hope, because no one knows about them.” He quoted Pivovarov as saying that “this release gives hope to those people who are behind bars.”

“The main requirement is not exchanges, not separating from the prison mass the personalities of political prisoners who must be exchanged <...> We must seek political amnesty, the release of people by article, and not by name,” Yashin said.

The article under which he was convicted is “d”, part 2 of art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code (public dissemination of fakes about the use of the Russian Armed Forces based on political or other hatred) - the ex-mund deputy called it political and called for the release of everyone who received sentences under it.

“We expect that this is a demand that will be heard at a very high level, not only at the level of the political opposition,” Yashin said.

He noted that this would be impossible without resolving the conflict in Ukraine and ending hostilities. “And within the framework of a peaceful settlement, one of the key issues, after peace issues, should be issues of freedom for people who sit for their views.”

In mid-June, President Vladimir Putin named the withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces troops from the territories of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO, as conditions for negotiations. In Kyiv these conditions were called an ultimatum.

Russia and Western countries held a large-scale prisoner exchange on August 1 in Turkey. 26 people took part in the transaction. As a result, ten people returned to Russia, 13 went to Germany, and three went to the usa  .

Among those who arrived in Germany were Pivovarov, former Moscow MP Ilya Yashin (recognized as a foreign agent), employees of Navalny’s headquarters (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) Liliya Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeeva and Vadim Ostanin, artist Alexandra Skochilenko, co-founder of the Memorial center Oleg Orlov (and Orlov, and Memorial are recognized as foreign agents), political scientist Dieter (Demuri) Voronin, DIRECTOR of the association for the development of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure “Let's go” Herman Moizhes, as well as three German citizens Patrick Schebel, Rico Krieger and Kevin Leak. The plane with the prisoners released by Russia was met by Scholz.

Moscow received suspects of circumventing EXPORT restrictions, espionage, cybercrimes, as well as Vadim Krasikov, convicted in Germany in the murder of former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, and the Dultsev family, who were involved in intelligence in Slovenia. The Kremlin called the exchange negotiations with Western countries “very difficult.” When asked whether this event is a sign of Russia's willingness to compromise in the situation of a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to “other principles” related to national security interests.