Former Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday issued threats against former Russian political prisoners released into exile as part of a prisoner swap with the West.
In a message on Telegram, Medvedev called the opposition figures “traitors” who “pose an existential threat to today’s Russia.”
“They must not forget the transience of their existence in this world,” he said.
Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council, advised them to always look around cautiously.
The Russian politicians and activists released under the deal include Vladimir Kara-Mursa, Ilya Yashin and Oleg Orlov.
In return, Moscow received a number of convicted criminals, including secret service agent and hitman Vadim Krasikov, who was imprisoned in Germany for murder.
In 2019, Krasikov shot dead a Chechen separatist born in Georgia in a Berlin park in broad daylight, allegedly on state orders.
President Vladimir Putin welcomed Krasikov and a number of Russian spies released from Western captivity upon their arrival in Moscow.
Medvedev claimed that Russia had made the best deal in the swap, as those returning to Moscow had worked for the Russian state and were “patriots of their homeland.”
Russia, on the other hand, had extradited not only what Medvedev called spies and criminal foreigners, but also prisoners who Medvedev said hated their Russian homeland and wanted to destroy it.
A total of 26 people were released in the prisoner exchange. Moscow released 16 people – including American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan – in exchange for 10 Russian citizens.
