Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Siberia for "spreading disinformation" about the Russian military, following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He was released in 2024 as part of a prisoner/spy swap negotiated by former US President Biden, former German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with Euronews' The Europe Conversation he laments how Western leaders bought into a "myth" in the early days of Putin's first term in office as president, and before that as Prime Minister. Kara-Murza said Putin was never a modernising force who "believed in reform" of the ways of the Soviet Union.
