Politicians urge the liberation of Putin's "primary political prisoner."

U.S. lawmakers urged the immediate release of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, marking the two-year anniversary of his imprisonment.

Kara-Murza, a Russian dissident, was sentenced to 25 years in solitary confinement in a Siberian maximum-security prison for treason and other charges, as Russian authorities continue their crackdown on domestic dissent.

In 2022, Kara-Murza was found guilty of "high treason" by the Moscow City Court for spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces in a speech to the Arizona House of Representatives, where he criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The longest political prisoner sentence in the post-Soviet era was his.

A bipartisan group of 80 lawmakers, led by Senators Ben Cardin and Roger Wicker, called on the Biden administration to classify the Russian dissident as "unlawfully and wrongfully detained."

A letter demanding Kara-Murza's release and the designation of a foreign government as a state sponsor of terrorism was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Cardin and other lawmakers, as obtained by Planet Chronicle Digital.

"The ongoing and unjust detention of U.S. Legal Permanent Resident and Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza is a cause for concern, as his family fears he may not survive much longer. This is especially true in light of the recent killing of Alexei Navalny. Kara-Murza is the most prominent imprisoned democracy activist still alive in Russia."

The State Department declined to provide specifics on their efforts to give Russian opposition leader Kara-Murza the designation sought by U.S. lawmakers, despite referring Planet Chronicle Digital to spokesperson Matthew Miller's remarks on the matter.

The Department of State regularly evaluates the conditions surrounding the detention of U.S. citizens abroad, including those in Russia, to determine if they are unjustified. The review is conducted in a legal and fact-based manner, taking into account all relevant circumstances for each case.

Grigory Vaypan, a Russian human rights lawyer and a Democracy Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that Kara-Murza is currently Russia's "most prominent political prisoner."

Vaypan stated that Putin's regime has proven to the world that it is willing to kill political prisoners in Russia, making him, the political prisoner number one, a certain target for danger.

Kara-Murza, who was reportedly poisoned twice in 2015 and 2017 by agents of the Russian state, is essentially on "Putin’s death row."

"Vaypan explained that his health is deteriorating due to the effects of two poisonings, which he never fully recovered from. He is now in solitary confinement in prison, where he can be held indefinitely. With his health getting worse, it's fair to say that he's essentially on Putin's death row."

Russia's oldest human rights organization, Memorial, estimates that there are approximately 700 political prisoners in the country presently.

In an attempt to suppress their opposition to the Russian government, political prisoners are subjected to increased isolation and punishment, including solitary confinement, food deprivation, restrictions on communication with loved ones, and denial of family visits.

"Russian prison authorities have a range of measures they can use, and there has been an increase in people being jailed for exercising their right to free speech, especially after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, those in prison are being further harassed and pressured."

Evgenia, wife of Kara-Murza, pondered on the deaths of Russian opposition figures such as Alexei Navalny and Boris Nemtsov, who were killed by the Putin regime.

She stated at an event on Capitol Hill that "they" aim for the bravest, most principled Russians who risk their freedom and often their lives to demonstrate that Russia can be different.

"My husband stated, "I hope that when individuals in the free world discuss Russia, they will not only recall the war criminals residing in the Kremlin but also those who are opposing them because we are all Russians.""