Editorial: Liberation

• Russian opposition figure, Ilia Iachine gives an exclusive interview to Libération.
• Convicted for publicly criticising Putin’s war against Ukraine, he was imprisoned for two years and then released this past summer.
• He is currently on a 'tour' of Europe, with the clear objective of rallying what he calls 'supporters', those opposed to Putin, both in exile like himself, in an international Russian movement for peace and freedom of Russia.
• Iachine, a former collaborator of Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015, occupies a central place in the opposition to Putin.
• Works closely with Navalny’s widow, Ioulia Navalnaïa and Vladimir Kara-Mourza, both released at the same time as him.
• Believes that despite a society that seems petrified by oppression and long exposure to dumbing-down propaganda, many Russians are opposed to the war in Ukraine.
• Iachine hopes that the war will generate such discontent that the population will politically turn against the current regime.

Conclusion: Despite the exile, Iachine believes in a democratic future for Russia and is working towards preparing for it.

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