Ilja Yashin forms new party in exile: "Want to give people hope"

Ilya Yashin has been active in the Russian opposition since 2000, the same year that Vladimir Putin came to power. When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, he chose to stay, despite the risks.

In 2022, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after speaking out about the Russian army's abuses in Butja. Two years later he was released in a major prisoner exchange between Russia and the West and ended up in Germany.

At the beginning of the summer, together with others, he formed the opposition party "Mirnaya Rossiya" - Peaceful Russia.

- It is important that we are not just individuals abroad with our own audience and our own Youtube channels. We need an organization, says Jasjin to SVT.

Wants Russia to replace Ukraine

Peaceful Russia describes itself as a party for "peace, freedom and justice". The party wants to end the war and Russian imperialism, abolish censorship, introduce independent courts and political amnesty. The founding documents also state that Russia must compensate for the damage caused to Ukraine.

But how credible is the promise of a completely different Russia when the country is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine?

- By forming a party and saying that Russia can be different - open, friendly, free and peaceful - we give people hope, says Yashin.

Secret members in Russia

Even people still living in Russia can join Peaceful Russia. But Jasjin does not want to say how many there are. Those who work for the party inside the country do so secretly and under pseudonyms. According to Jasjin, the party also does not register their real names and personal data.

- In Russia, you cannot say that you are a member of an opposition party. You can be arrested just for your association with it. That's why we try to protect these people, says Jasjin.

Responsibility but not guilt

When asked what responsibility Russian society bears for Putin being able to stay in power for 26 years, Yashin says that both he himself and the Russians have a responsibility for Putin being able to come to power at all. But he rejects the idea of ​​collective guilt because Putin still rules the country.

- There is no legal possibility to depose him. You can't vote him out or take to the streets to get him to resign. Putin is a dictator and what is happening in Russia is called tyranny, he says.