Exiled Russian Dissidents In Germany Get Rare Boost From Freed Activists

Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin in an address at a rally in his honour had called for the release of other 'steadfast' political prisoners and exhorted the crowd to keep up the fight against President Vladimir Putin (Credit: AFP)

Not long after Russian dissident Ilya Yashin was freed in a major prisoner swap with the West, he received a hero's welcome in Berlin, a growing centre for exiled Russian activists.

Hundreds from Germany's Russian community cheered him on at a rally held on a balmy summer's evening at a park where the Berlin Wall once stood, as police kept a close watch on the event.