Putin pays a birthday visit to a Russian human rights icon, who says he agreed to a special pardon
This Thursday, Vladimir Putin stopped by the home of Lyudmila Alexeyeva, an icon of Russia’s human rights movement, to wish the 90-year-old woman a happy birthday. It wasn’t all light banter and champagne, however. Alexeyeva says she convinced the president to pardon Igor Izmestiev, a former Russian senator and entrepreneur convicted in 2010 of organizing multiple homicides. “I know, Mr. Putin, that you always live up to your promises.