.Andrei Pivovarov was just one of the 16 prisoners freed from Russia in last week's primary prisoner swap in between Moscow as well as the West.The prominent opposition protestor, 42, was pulled off a Warsaw-bound plane through Russian security services in 2021 after the pro-democracy group Open Russia, which he headed, was actually disallowed as " undesirable." He was punished to 4 years behind bars in 2022 for his deal with the team.The Moscow Times spoke with Pivovarov regarding the swap and also his plans for the future:.MT: Just how performed you think when you were actually being taken to the airport terminal? Did you understand that it was a substitution?AP: By the opportunity our company got to the flight terminal, it was already very clear that our experts were being needed to a substitution, yet our company didn't understand where.I presume I totally recognized the very fact of what was actually happening when I was actually being derived from the nest on Sunday early morning. It was the 25th [of July] I realized that one thing extraordinary was actually happening given that I was actually picked up due to the head of the nest and also he individually helped me lug my points. However there were no specifics.You often tend to presume the most awful in any kind of unclear circumstance. I possessed all form of ideas. Yet there was actually an instant when I was sent out-- I needed to authorize for a dry out supply. As well as I find a title on the previous line: Alexandra Skochilenko. And I'm sure that if Sasha and also I are together, it's hardly a negative tale.I presumed that it will be like in the flicks-- an arena where our team are absolved by the tsar as well as discharged before the RT video cameras. The 2nd option was actually a variation of the thinkers' airplane, which however turned out to be extra actual in lifestyle.But everything was actually concealed until the actual side. When our experts were actually given Lefortovo [Penitentiary, just before the swap], our company were in solitude and also can not talk to any individual.On Thursday early morning they delivered us a launch certificate without any order variety, nothing at all. Our team possessed half a hr to pack, we carried our points.There were folks in hides as well as uniforms with our team. If any one of our company avoided and also refused to be expelled, their activity was to put our team on the airplane by any means. They explicitly informed our team that subsequently.The 1st individual I observed on the bus was actually [Ilya] Yashin. It was actually absolutely wonderful to see him. There were familiar as well as unfamiliar skins afterwards, however directly, I was very stressed whether Volodya Kara-Murza will exist. He was one of the final to be generated, which was actually a massive alleviation, because he has the longest paragraph.Do you know who pushed for your addition in the listing?How the listings were actually formed is actually an enigma to me. I have not had the capacity to speak with all my associates yet. Coming from my understanding, there were actually various teams from which info was collected as well as the ultimate list was actually considerably higher what you have observed. And also it was lessened through Russia. When all the dreams were actually picked up and communicated and also kind of agreed upon, fewer folks were inevitably released.You were expected to be released in a month ...This is just one of the most hard points for me. If you take a look at my unlawful case, the time frame that I had actually left [to serve] can easily certainly not be actually compared to the terms of the others [political detainees]I can mention that I know coming from a number of sources that the likelihood of my launch [in the end of my paragraph] was not guaranteed. That's why I found yourself on the listing. Our team have actually found examples where folks were imprisoned on their way out of the colony since some new criminal instances were opened. And regrettably, there were phone calls that pointed out that in my situation, the result might not be the most ideal.What are your strategies now? Perform you understand what you will perform in the near future?I am actually right now an individual with no papers and also no feeling of home. I was released a Russian interior passport as well as I possess pair of papers-- one substitutes my [foreign ticket] as well as the second changes my visa. As it was discussed to me, these documents allow me to stay in Germany for 15 days-- specifically in Germany, not in the EU. It is actually hard to create major plans. Thus in the beginning, naturally, I would like to solve the domestic elements.And afterwards-- I have actually been actually doing social as well as political help 15-20 years. My stay in prison performed certainly not repel me from it, yet as a matter of fact inspired me much more. I have some ideas, as I possessed time to believe as well as ponder [behind bars]And the primary target right here, perhaps, is to make an effort to chat even more along with those that remained inside [Russia] To try to offer a plan to deal with those who might certainly not be our followers, however that are annoyed along with what is happening. If our team can provide [folks in Russia] the possibility to show on their own without putting on their own at major threat, I think that's what an autonomous force needs to carry out.