Navalny associate speaks out for first time since being freed in prisoner swap

Liliya Chanysheva, who once ran the late Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny’s headquarters in the Volga region city of Ufa, spoke out on Tuesday for the first time after she was freed in the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Chanysheva thanked everyone who stood by her during her time as a political prisoner in Russia. “Throughout these two years and nine months you defended me and fought for my release, covered the case, wrote me letters, sent me packages — in general, you worried and supported me as much as you could. I am immensely grateful to you all for this and for being there,” she said on Telegram.

In June 2023, Chanysheva was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for “calling for extremism” and participating in “an extremist community” in connection with her work for Navalny. In April, her sentence was raised to nine and a half years after the Prosecutor General’s Office complained that her original sentence had been “too lenient”.

The majority of those who were exchanged with the West were prisoners who spoke out against the war in Ukraine or who worked for Navalny, including Ksenia Fadeyeva and Vadim Ostanin who headed two of his regional campaign offices. Navalny himself was originally supposed to be included in the swap, but died suddenly in his Artic penal colony in February.

Chanysheva also called for the release of those still imprisoned in Russia on political grounds. “Hundreds of political prisoners still remain in Russian prisons, and not all of them are publicly known. I ask you to remember them, help them and demand their release,” she said.

Chanysheva also said that she remained committed to fighting for Russia’s future. “I love Russia and believe that together we will make its future wonderful.”