Former Russian prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza adjusting to his newfound freedom

former Russian prisoner Vladimir karura is sharing his story after being released in the largest prisoner swap between the US and Russia since the Cold War K mza one of President Vladimir Putin's harshest critics was sentenced to 25 years in prison on treason charges after speaking out against Russia's war in Ukraine he spent two and a half years locked up in different Russian prison colonies 11 months of that time in solitary confinement and on August 1st car murza was freed along with Americans Evan grovich Paul whan and alsu kerisha all sentenced on Espionage charges and for allegedly spreading false information Vladimir kza joins me now for his first interview with ABC News since his release Vladimir thank you for coming on to share your story I'm sure some parts of this are still difficult to talk about good morning Diana and thank you for having me on your program well frankly the past three weeks um have felt as if I'm watching some kind of a film and it's a very good one but it still feels very unreal because you know just a few weeks ago I was still confident that I would uh end my life in in Putin's siberian prison and now I'm at home with my family so it's uh it's it's something out of the books and actually you know I am a historian by education and one of my areas of study has been the history of the Soviet disent movement and there's this sort of belief that every every historian subconsciously wants to personally experience the area of his or her study and it's uh it's just quite you well amusing really that we were kicked out of the country in the same way that Soviet dissidents were back in the 70s and 80s and uh I have to say that you know when I had my meeting with the president a few days ago to personally thank him for the role he has played in that historic exchange uh you mentioned the uh three Americans who are released as part of the uh orar exchange earlier this month 16 people uh in total were saved snatched from the hell of of Putin's gouard during this uh during this exchange during this event and only four American presidents in history uh two Republicans for and Reagan and two Democrats Carter and now Biden have negotiated such prisoner releases prisoner exchanges to help save prisoners of conscience from the Soviet or Russian Gulag uh and I think it is important to note that you know in in this day and age when there is this sort of cynical stereotype that all politics is about expediency and real politi and that there's no room for principle of value anymore uh I think it is important to sort of PA Al note uh that sometimes the leaders of Western democracy don't just pay lip service to uh protecting human rights but actually do it in practice to and I think it's it's a very important fact to remember so Vladimir what has life been like for you since being released and being reunited with your family in this way you say you never expected uh well it's uh it's still a transition I mean it's only in Hollywood movies that somebody can just you know walk out of the prison clean oneself up and move on I mean in real life it takes takes sort of time to to adjust back into reality I was in uh in Putin's prison for 2 and a half years and as you mentioned almost 11 month uh of those straight in solitary confinement and it's uh it's it's very difficult psychologically when you know when you're not able to share a word with another human being I actually by international law by by United Nations minimum standard rules and treatment of prisoners solitary confinement longer than 15 days is officially considered to be a form of torture degrading and inhumane treatment because you know Aristotle said that human beings are social animals we need human interaction just as much as we need oxygen to breathe or food to eat or or water to drink and it's when you're completely deprived of it uh it isn't easy and uh you know I was also forbidden from calling my wife and children I was forbidden from going to church uh and this this is how the Putin regime treats its opponents in prison it doesn't just put people in prison for opposing uh this uh this government its policies aggressive war against Ukraine which is was was the reason I was arrested but it also in prisons keeps uh its political opponents in the harshest and strictest possible conditions Alexi Nal was in exactly the same situation and so uh it is a process to to adjusting back to reality and as I said it seems uh the past few weeks seem like uh I'm watching some kind of a movie but it's uh it's a very good one and I hope that doesn't not too much time passes before sort of reality fully settles back I can we are wishing you the same of course and I don't want to harp on this too much because again I'm sure it's hard to talk about but you say during that time in salitary confinement that even something as simple as a pen and a paper you only got that for 90 minutes a day to either work on your case or write to family members so not only were you secluded from talking to people you were even secluded from just writing things down what was that like well frankly every day uh in prison is like a groundh home day uh you know it's endless meaningless and and exactly the same wake up at 5:00 in the morning for the wakeup call you attach your Bump to the wall uh and then essentially you just sit in your small cell uh mine was 2x 3 m so that's about 7 by 10 ft uh and you literally just do nothing uh you have nobody to speak to you have nothing to do you have nowhere to go uh you get out uh for 90 minutes for a small so-called walk which is essentially just walking around in a circle in a small roof covered prison Courtyard which isn't that much bigger than a cell uh and for another 90 minutes you are given uh pen and paper to to do everything you need to do during that day so if if I had to prepare for court hearings uh to read uh letters from family and friends to respond to those letters to uh to make any notes you know to to respond to questions from journalists and writing and so on all of that you have to stuff into 90 minutes a day for the rest of the day again you just sit and do nothing and um and you know when it happen happens day after day week after week month after month uh it starts getting it starts getting to you frankly and I think what is really important to remember uh and this is the reason I you know I keep sort of coming back to this uh while 16 of us were snatched from the hell of Putin's Gite because of that East West prisoner of change earlier this month there are thousands who still remain back there hundreds of Russian political prisoners a lot of them uh those have been oo those who have been arrested those Russians who have been arrested for publicly opposing Putin's dictatorship and his aggressive war against Ukraine but also thousands of Ukrainian prisoners of War Ukrainian civilian hostages there are hundreds and hundreds of political prisoners in neighboring Belarus because let's not forget there are two dictatorships still left in Europe Putin's Russia and lenk's bellarus and it is important that we remember about them every single day and U as I discussed at my meeting with a president of the United States a few days ago we must do everything that we can to make sure that they are also free and that they are also reunited with their families uh and I am not going to AR rest and I'm not going to relent until the day uh that that finally happens and Vladimir that is probably what you need a lot of rest and recuperation after what you've been through to try to regroup with your family and yet here you are you say in the days leading up to the prisoner exchange the guards tried to force you to say that Putin was a legitimate president try to get you to put it in writing that you refused you gave an interview years ago before you were arrested and now here you are again speaking out against this regime do you fear for your safety now and do you fear for others who speak out against Putin right now how do you see this resolved well look safety is not the word we're used to in the in the Russian Democratic opposition we know what this regime does Vladimir Putin has been in PA for 25 years a quarter of a century this month actually marks exactly 2 years since he was appointed prime minister by uh then president Boris yelson and this December will Mark 25 years of Putin in the creman nonstop so there's an entire generation of people in my country in Russia that have grown up not knowing any other political reality and uh you know we know what it entails to be in opposition to Vladimir Putin's regime uh my closest friend and my mentor Boris nof the leader of the Russian Democratic opposition was murdered gunned down on Putin's orders almost a decade ago in February of 2015 on a bridge around outside the Kremlin Alexa Nali another very prominent opposition leader as you know well uh was killed in prison earlier this year I myself was poisoned twice uh by uh Putin security agents FSB agents and then put into prison for a 25e sentence which is no doubt where where I would have ended my life had it not been for this International prison exchange facilitated by the American and the German government so we know uh what it entails and and what uh what risks it carries to be in opposition to Vladimir Putin's aggressive and murderous dictatorship but you know what I I care about my country I love my country and I think Russia deserves a much better future than to be in the hands uh of an authoritarian aggressive murderous illegitimate dictatorship and so whatever risks are involved uh you know whatever else it entails I'm not going to rest I'm not going to stop until the day when Russia does become a democracy and I have absolutely no doubt that that day will come again I'm a historian and even though the Ark of history may not Bend as fast as we like there's no doubt that in the end it does Bend towards Liberty you know just 35 years ago which is nothing by historical standards if you looked at the map of Europe uh let's say the annual Freedom House map that is published by um this very prominent us-based human rights organization uh you would have seen 35 years ago that half of Europe for example were uh colored in purple which is the way they Mark unfree dictatorial countries today there are only two dictatorships left on the map of Europe those are Putin's Russia and lenk's Belarus and I have absolutely no doubt that the day will come uh when uh our country becomes a democracy too and that's frankly going to be a very good day not just for Russia but for the entire world because the way uh you know these dictatorial regimes operate in Russia they always represent a threat not only to our own people domestically in terms of the massive repression they engage in but also they represent a threat to World Order and to International Security because they always end up engaging in outward aggression as we see very clearly from the regime of Vladimir Putin and so when Russia finally has a democratic government that leaves at peace with its own people and with the outside world that's going to be a very good day for everybody and I think it is incumbent on us to work actively to try to bring this day a little bit closer and I know that's what you have done and are continuing to do we wish you the best I'm glad to see you home and I hope you are taking at least a little time to rest and regroup with your family Vladimir kers great to talk to you thank you for coming on