The Japan Times - Parents of Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin interrogated

Yashin was one of several Russian political prisoners freed in a historic swap with the West last summer. He had been serving an eight-year sentence for denouncing the Kremlin's Ukraine invasion.

His parents, Tatiana and Valery Yashin, regularly attend political trials in Russia.

Moscow had placed Yashin, who has organised anti-war protests in Germany, on a wanted list last month.

"They searched my parents' home yesterday," Yashin wrote on social media, calling pressure on the families of dissenters "disgusting".

He said it was connected to his refusal to identify himself as a foreign agent.

"After the search, my mother and father were questioned at the investigative department," he said.

He said investigators wanted to know if the pair had contact with their son and knew about his whereabouts.

The 41-year-old said it was as if "the security services did not know where they deported me to".

Yashin had refused to leave Russia after the Ukraine invasion, and after the August 2024 swap he said security services forcibly put him on a plane out of Russia against his will for the exchange.

Also on Friday, Russia announced criminal charges against opposition campaigner Lev Shlosberg, one of the few politicians publicly opposed to the Ukraine offensive still in the country.

Shlosberg, who lives in the western city of Pskov and is a key figure in the Yabloko party, had repeatedly called the conflict a "tragedy" in social media posts and broadcasts on YouTube.

Investigators opened a criminal case against him last October for allegedly breaking "foreign agent" rules, but only formally charged him on Friday, paving the way for him to be put on trial.

Anybody designated a "foreign agent" in Russia must attach a lengthy disclaimer to all their public statements, such as social media posts.

Investigators allege Shlosberg failed to comply with this rule, an accusation he denies.

The 61-year-old faces up to two years in prison if found guilty.

In another case on Friday, opposition media outlets reported that activist Konstantin Kotov had fled the country after being accused of making donations to one of Alexei Navalny's organisations.

Kotov, who allegedly made six transfers of 500 rubles ($5) to the late opposition leader's Anti-Corruption Foundation, was placed under house arrest last August and charged in November, the OVD-Info rights group said.

T.Kobayashi--JT