Jailed opposition leader Ilya Yashin transferred to remote Izhevsk ahead of his mother’s New Year visit

The jailed opposition politician Ilya Yashin has been moved to a detention center in Izhevsk, a city almost 800 miles from Moscow.

Yashin was sentenced to 8.5 years in a penal colony for criticizing the Russian military in a livestream on war crimes in Bucha. The politician espoused an openly anti-war position while refusing to leave Russia. He did not admit any guilt during his trial.

A Moscow court announced Yashin’s sentence on December 9. His defense lawyers have appealed the decision, which means that the sentence cannot be enforced until the end of the appeal process.

Yashin’s attorney Maria Eismont posted the news of Yashin’s transfer on Facebook, adding that Yashin’s mother had just signed up to visit him at the Fourth detention center in Moscow, on December 29. “This is how they wished a happy New Year to Ilya and his family,” wrote Eismont.

The possibility of Yashin’s transfer to a different region first emerged on December 26.