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00:00Ilya Yashin sits at a cafe somewhere in Berlin.
00:04Just two weeks ago, he was in a Russian prison cell.
00:07Released as part of the biggest East-West prison exchange since the Cold War, the leading
00:11Russian opposition figure is still coming to terms with his new life of freedom.
00:17I have mixed feelings.
00:19On the one hand, I'm happy to be free, to hug my family and see close ones.
00:23I only managed to hug my mother twice in two years.
00:26At the same time, it is very hard to realise that my comrades are still serving time.
00:31The 41-year-old anti-Putin activist, who had been jailed for publishing videos exposing
00:37Russian atrocities in Butcher, had vowed to remain in Russia, fighting from within the
00:42system.
00:43I was ready to stay in Russia, even in prison.
00:46I was in fact deported in a breach of the law and all legal norms.
00:50For some reason, Putin decided to kick me out of my home, although it is my home too.
00:56I'm not Putin's guest.
00:57That is why it's hard for me to accept all this.
01:01His new status won't stop him continuing to fight for an end to the war in Ukraine and
01:06freedom for Russia.
01:08Last week, he spoke to supporters in a Berlin park, calling for other Russian exiles to
01:13put pressure on family back home to turn against the war.
01:17I was a politician in Russia, a politician in prison, and now I have a new experience
01:21and I shall be a politician in immigration.
01:24I'm not ready to talk about specific plans now, but in terms of priorities, I have two
01:28main directions.
01:29Anti-war enlightenment for those who have remained in Russia, and secondly, human rights.
01:33There remain many political prisoners behind bars, and I shall work to save those people.
01:39He has no doubts that the war is a tragedy for all involved, as recent events in Kursk
01:44demonstrate.
01:45I want Russian people to understand that this war was unleashed by Putin, that this aggression
01:51is against the national interest of our country, and to speak against this war is to be a Russian
01:56patriot.
01:57For now, Yashin plans to take a few weeks off, gather his thoughts and think about his
02:02next steps.