Opposition politician Ilya Yashin transferred from Moscow to Smolensk region

According to lawyer Mikhail Biryukov, opposition politician Ilya Yashin has been transferred from pre-trial detention center No. 4 in Moscow to detention center No. 1 in Smolensk.

The lawyer noted that “this is not his final destination.” The exact prison colony in the Smolensk region in which Yashin will serve his sentence is still unknown.

In December 2022, the Meshchansky court of Moscow sentenced Yashin to eight and a half years in a general regime prison colony for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. In April 2023, the Moscow City Court rejected the defense’s appeal against the sentence.

After the Moscow City Court's decision, a message appeared on Yashin’s Telegram channel, in which he warned what would happen to him during his transfer:

Leaving the pre-trial detention center, I will be deprived of communication with the outside world for some time. On the train and in transit detention centers, there is no way to report my whereabouts. Until I arrive at the colony, neither my lawyers nor my family will know where I am. No one will tell me how long the journey will take either.