The prisoner swap, the largest since the Cold War, saw eight Russians, including a convicted murderer, exchanged for 16 prisoners in Russian and Belarusian jails, many of them dissidents.
"What happened on Aug. 1 I don't view as a prisoner swap ... but as my illegal expulsion from Russia against my will, and I say sincerely, more than anything I want now to go back home," he added.
He was speaking alongside activists Vladimir Kara-Murza and Andrei Pivovarov at the freed prisoners' first public appearance since arriving in Germany.
On their second day out of prison, where they had had limited contact with the outside world, Kara-Murza and Yashin especially seemed fired with resolve, and to have kept abreast of world events.
Pivovarov agreed: "We will do everything to make our country free and democratic, and get all political prisoners released."
Persons:
Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, Yashin, Putin's, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Andrei Pivovarov, Putin, Kara, Pivovarov, Dmitry Medvedev
Organizations:
Western, Kremlin
Locations:
Russian, Ukraine, Bonn, Russia, Germany, Moscow
![Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg](/find/mix/0?q="Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg"){kind=link}