Key news on repression in Russia and against those who left: political prisoners, verdicts, new designations. Every item links to its source. Updated morning and evening.
updated 12 October 2026 · RSSAccording to Mediazona, a prosecutor at Moscow's Basmanny court asked for 5 years for the blogger under Article 280.4. In 2023 a court sentenced him in absentia to 11 years for 'fakes'.
According to OVD-Info, Centre E officers took him to a police station. A report on displaying 'extremist' symbols is being drawn up against him.
According to OVD-Info, she was challenging her registration as 'prone to terrorism and extremism' at IK-9. At the hearing she cried and said she could not explain her decision with FSIN staff present.
According to Mediazona, she wrote in a letter that she is held in a pre-trial detention centre under Article 276. Earlier she was fined 320 thousand roubles for justifying terrorism over a social media comment.
According to OVD-Info, the court imposed two fines of 30 thousand roubles for 'discrediting' the army and disrespect for the authorities after a video of a ballot with an anti-war message.
According to Mediazona Belarus, citing Viasna, the trade union activist was sent to a punishment cell for seven days in May. Her term is six years in a penal colony.
Citing Agentstvo, Current Time reports that his representative said Makhmudov is in Morocco awaiting a flight to Russia. He helped organise a hunger strike at the prison in Folkston.
According to 7x7, the lawyer, who runs a blog criticising the security services and judges, was sent to pre-trial detention. He is accused of striking an FSIN officer in September.
According to Mediazona, the Ust-Labinsk district court fined him 10 thousand roubles over the outlet's 'Fathers and Grandfathers' investigation into nepotism. He has lived outside Russia since 2021.
According to 7x7, the human rights defender was released on 9 October. He had been given two years under Article 321 of the Criminal Code for disrupting the work of a detention facility; he called the prosecution revenge.
Moscow's Gagarinsky court convicted her under Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code and she was taken into custody after the verdict, OVD-Info reports, citing Mediazona. The prosecutor had asked for five years.
According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, she has left Russia and is safe. In August she was detained in the Ryazan region and a court gave her ten days' arrest, then another 14.
According to a Mediazona correspondent, the Moscow Regional Court convicted Sergei Bryantsev under Article 275.1 and Part 2(c) of Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code. The prosecutor had asked for 8 years; he did not plead guilty.
According to Mediazona, a court in Voronezh in September sent 50-year-old Olga Usoltseva to pre-trial detention in a case of justifying terrorism. An FSB investigator cited her "pro-Ukrainian views".
According to Mediazona, the case was prompted by a rewrite of a news item quoting an economist on a possible rise in the pension age; the court applied Part 9 of Article 13.15 of the Administrative Code.
According to Sharnev, after his arrest officers beat him with stun guns and kicked him for several hours. He said this in the 2nd Western District Military Court, Mediazona reports.
According to OVD-Info, at least 13 detainees have been punished. About 60 people were taken to police stations, and six were fined ten thousand roubles each.
Vyborg District Court in St Petersburg fined him a thousand roubles for petty hooliganism (Article 20.1, Part 1 of the Administrative Code), Mediazona reports. The case concerned four ballots with the words "for peace" and "for freedom".
Kirovsky District Court in Irkutsk sent him to a remand centre. He is accused of publicly justifying terrorism online (Article 205.2, Part 2 of the Criminal Code); what exactly he is charged with is unknown, Mediazona reports.
The new "foreign agents" include Novosibirsk activist Roman Malozemov, film critic Teymur Aliyev, blogger Muslim Satuyev, Ishmurat Khaibullin and the Telegram channel "Plokhaya kuryanochka", OVD-Info reports, citing Novaya Gazeta Europe.
She was detained at the airport on 1 October at Russia's request. Her lawyer says the detention period expired and no preventive measure was chosen. She was freed on 4 October and is heading to Odesa.
ICE officers detained him on a road in Arkansas, his wife said; where he was taken is unknown. According to her, hearings on the asylum case are scheduled for 2028.
She was accused of organising an unauthorised event. According to the young woman, who spoke to the outlet Post-, she was questioned for about five hours and threatened with a criminal case. She is now free.
On 8 October the committee applied urgent measures on the complaint of the former Navalny campaign activist, her lawyer said. She remains in custody in Almaty and the extradition decision remains in force.
According to Memorial, he was examined a few days before his death and sent back to the remand centre for palliative care. He was reportedly beaten earlier in the same remand centre.
According to Mediazona, Moscow's Simonovsky court convicted her under Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code over seven transfers of 500 roubles. She is the fourth woman jailed for donations to FBK.
According to his mother, Olga Medvedeva, he is beaten for refusing cleaning duties despite his Group II disability. She believes the violence is linked to his complaints about prison conditions.
According to Nasha Niva, he was detained after crossing the border on 30 June and is charged under Article 361-3 of the Criminal Code over transfers in support of Ukraine. He is held in SIZO No. 1 in Minsk.
A relative reported this. Sentenced to 8 years in the trade union case, he fears transfer to hospital from penal colony No. 22, saying he may not survive it.
According to her lawyer Mikhail Biryukov, the investigator reported that the case over military "fakes" was dropped. Moniava still wears an electronic bracelet, to be removed once the penal service is notified.
The case under Part 1 of Article 327 of the Criminal Code has reached the Moskovsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, Mediazona reports. The FSB claims he produced documents on political persecution for refugee status abroad.
According to Prosecutor General Dmitry Gora, about 2 000 criminal cases were opened in a year and a half. Since 2022, in absentia cases against more than 150 people have been sent to court.
According to Delfi, the journalist has lived in Latvia since 2014. Foreign Minister Baiba Braže said the decision was based on information from the competent authorities.
According to 7x7, the Kirovsky District Court of Saratov imposed the fine under Part 1 of Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code. On 28 September she was charged in a case of insulting the authorities.
According to 7x7, the TPU order cites "propaganda of banned ideologies". Isakov has gone to court to be reinstated as a student.
According to OVD-Info, Shestun is on hunger strike and has lost more than 20 kilograms. He says he was given an ultimatum: end the hunger strike or go without medical care.