Six jailed critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been...

Six jailed critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin have been removed from prison and taken to an unknown location in recent days, according to reports.

Since Sunday, high-profile political prisoners Ilya Yashin, Oleg Orlov, Lilia Chanysheva, Ksenia Fadeyeva, Sasha Skochilenko, and Kevin Lik have disappeared from their prison cells, fueling speculation of a possible group prisoner exchange, independent Russian news outlet Meduza reported.

"It looks like we are on the verge of a very large-scale exchange with the Americans," Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder of R.Politik: Reality of Russian Politics, a political analysis firm, said on Telegram.

"Could this be a group exchange? Anything is possible. This has never happened in modern Russian history, but in Soviet history, yes," Eva Merkacheva, a member of Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights, said, commenting on the developments.