There was a sense of Soviet déjà vu in the release of Crimean Tatar leaders Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov, seen in the secrecy with which the special operation was carried out and in the use of a third country. Déjà vu also since just as in the USSR, the number of political prisoners who remain incarcerated is large and on the increase, with such hostage-taking described by Chiygoz’ lawyer as “profitable business” for the Kremlin …read more