Veteran human rights advocate freed in swap talks to AP
A human rights activist since the 1980s, Oleg Orlov thought Russia had turned a corner when the Soviet Union collapsed and a democratically elected president became leader. But then Vladimir Putin rose to power, crushing dissent and launching the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine. Finally, the 71-year-old Orlov was himself thrown in prison for opposing the fighting. Freed last week in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War, he was forced into exile -- just like the Soviet dissidents of his youth.
