Russian PR expert jailed for online post after accompanying Evan Gershkovich on reporting trip asks government to exclude him from prisoner swaps
Russian activist and PR expert Yaroslav Shirshikov, who is serving a five-year prison sentence in Yekaterinburg on “justifying terrorism” charges for an online post, has asked the Russian authorities not to include him in any future prisoner change.
Shirshikov, whose arrest came several weeks after he accompanied Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on the reporting trip that ended in the journalist’s own arrest, sent his request to Russia’s presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District. His supporters shared a copy of it on Telegram:
In light of media reports about preparations for a new prisoner exchange between Russia and the U.S. in February 2025, I, as a prisoner of conscience who has been recognized internationally as a political prisoner, demand to be excluded from the exchange lists.
I prefer to address my questions to the authorities of my country without the assistance of foreign governments. And if staying in my homeland and standing with my people in their hardest hour means I must remain in prison, then I will remain in prison.
Earlier this month, a lawyer representing Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen jailed in Russia for donating to a Ukrainian aid organization, said in an interview that Russia and the U.S. could conduct another prisoner exchange in February.
On November 15, Russian sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, who’s also serving a five-year prison sentence for an online post, vowed to sue any foreign government that includes him in a prisoner swap.