Oleg Orlov*, Kevin Lik, and Andrei Pivovarov released within prisoner exchange

Human rights defender Oleg Orlov*, sentenced to 2.5 years of imprisonment in a case on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, 19-year-old Kevin Lik, convicted of high treason, and politician Andrei Pivovarov, who was sentenced to imprisonment for participating in the activities of an undesirable organization, have been released as part of a prisoner exchange with Western countries.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on February 27, in Moscow, a court found Oleg Orlov*, the co-chair of the “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence*, guilty in a criminal case on discrediting the Russian Armed Forces and sentenced him to 2.5 years of imprisonment. On July 29, an advocate who came to visit Oleg Orlov* at a SIZO (pre-trial prison) was informed that the human rights defender had left for an unknown destination.

The prisoner exchange between Russia and Western countries took place at an airport in Ankara, the “Kommersant” reported. Oleg Orlov* has been among sixteen released Russian prisoners.

Nineteen-year-old Kevin Lik, who also holds German citizenship and who was sentenced in Russia to four years of imprisonment in a criminal case on high treason, has also been released.

“Kevin spent 526 days behind bars and is finally returning to his homeland – Germany,” the “Story of Kevin Lik” Telegram channel reported.

Among those released from prison is politician Andrei Pivovarov, who was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in July 2022 by a court in Krasnodar for participating in an undesirable organization, the “Kommersant” reports.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the register of foreign agents was the spread of “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces.”