“I know what agents look like”: Putin critic describes “rare incident” in Berlin café

“I know what agents look like”
Putin critic describes “rare incident” in Berlin café

08.09.2024, 16:47

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As part of the large prisoner exchange between the West and Russia, opposition activist Ilya Yashin comes to Germany. In an interview, he now tells of an incident in a cafe in Berlin.

Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin denied having police protection in Germany despite the potential dangers posed by the Russian secret service. He told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group that he had been offered personal protection around a month ago when he arrived after the unprecedented prisoner exchange between Russia and the West. He said he “absolutely did not want that”. “I didn't even have bodyguards in Moscow, so why should I have any here?”

However, Jashin reports that he experienced a “strange incident” while visiting a café in Berlin with a friend. A man at the next table suddenly pulled out his cell phone and started filming him. “This man was not a normal café visitor, he was spying on us,” he said. “I now know very well what Russian agents or police officers look like.”

When asked about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than two and a half years, Yashin said: “There must be no illusion that Putin would be satisfied with Ukraine.” Rather, both the West and the Russian opposition should do everything they can “to save Ukraine.” In Russia, the prominent Kremlin critic was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in 2022 for openly addressing the atrocities committed by Russians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

At the same time, Yashin complained that the space for critical opinions in Russia was becoming increasingly narrow. Most people were afraid to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime. “Putin has taken my people hostage,” he said.

In an unprecedented prisoner exchange at the beginning of August, Russia and Belarus released Yashin and 15 other people who had been imprisoned for their activities as journalists, artists, opposition members or activists, among other reasons. In return, ten people were handed over to Moscow, including the convicted “Tiergarten murderer” Vadim Krassikov and spies.