The guides below are drafts: a lawyer has not reviewed them yet. This is not legal advice.
Right now
Find out the stage: arrest in absentia, trial or a verdict already.
Remember: an appeal against a verdict must be filed within 15 days.
Discuss with a lawyer whether you need your own lawyer in the trial.
If someone close to you abroad is on trial: notices often go to their old address in Russia. Keep them and pass them on through a safe channel; you need not answer officers' questions about them (Constitution, art. 51).
First find out the stage and the deadlines: arrest in absentia, trial or a verdict already. Check the case page on the court website and the Interior Ministry wanted database, and ask rights groups. An appeal against a verdict must be filed within 15 days of the verdict (Criminal Procedure Code art. 389.4); after that it becomes final.
You can be arrested in absentia only if you have been put on the international or interstate wanted list (CPC art. 108(5)). Such an arrest is not a verdict, but it can be used to detain you on entering Russia and to request your extradition from another country.
Trials in absentia are held for grave and especially grave crimes and, since April 2025, for a list of lesser 'political' articles: 'fakes' (Criminal Code art. 207.3(1)), 'discrediting the army' (280.3(1)), 'undesirable' organisations (284.1(1-2)), foreign agents (330.1), 'rehabilitating Nazism' (354.1) and others (CPC art. 247(5)).
A defence lawyer is mandatory in a trial in absentia. If you have not hired one, the court appoints one (CPC art. 247(6)). For what to expect from an appointed lawyer, see 'State-appointed lawyer: accept or not?'.
Notices are often sent to an old address in Russia. In August 2026 the Supreme Court did not see this as a violation in the case of a woman who had left Russia, and said that an appeal lodged by her privately hired lawyer proved she knew about the trial and chose not to take part. Decide on hiring your own lawyer together with a lawyer, aware of this risk.
If you return or are extradited, a verdict passed in absentia is quashed at the request of the convicted person or their lawyer, and the case is heard again in the ordinary way (CPC art. 247(7)). That does not mean the new sentence will be lighter.
Consequences abroad. A final in absentia sentence under any Criminal Code article is one of the conditions for the Justice Ministry list under Law 284-FZ: no passport, frozen money, no deals by power of attorney (see 'The consulate refuses a passport or documents'). According to the UN Special Rapporteur's report (September 2026), about half of the Russian Red Notices reviewed by Interpol's Commission in 2024 were found political and cancelled, while CIS-channel searches get no such check.
In absentia verdicts are growing: according to the same report, 4 in 2022 and 157 in 2025. The case will not lapse with time: while a person evades investigation or trial, the limitation period does not run (Criminal Code art. 78(3)).
For asylum and complaints keep copies of rulings, the verdict, notices and screenshots of the case page on the court website. Rights groups advise collecting evidence of persecution in advance and applying for asylum with a lawyer. Where to turn: First Department (foreign agent), Memorial ('extremist' in Russia; helps with UN complaints), OVD-Info (bot).
Designations of organisations in this guide: OVD-Info (foreign agent, extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Memorial Political Prisoners Support (extremist, on Rosfinmonitoring list); Anti-War Committee 'Consuls' (undesirable, terrorist, on Rosfinmonitoring list). Contacting them carries a risk: do not write from a phone that may be seized, and do not repost their materials.
Legal team helping people persecuted by the state for political reasons.
On 9 April 2026 Memorial was designated 'extremist' in Russia; the Centre said it has stopped all work inside Russia. Contacting it or donating from Russia carries risk.
abroadextremiston Rosfinmonitoring listcontact matched to the organisation's site 26 September 2026
Get in touch ↓
This organisation is designated 'extremist' in Russia. It says that a consultation is not participation in its work, but messages on a phone that may be seized and reposts of its materials are dangerous. Write from a device you would not hand over if detained.
Advice for people who are detained or face administrative or criminal cases over protests and anti-war statements. They can tell you how to behave during questioning.
Since June 2026 it no longer works with lawyers in Russia; it gives advice and refers people onward. For criminal cases and pressure on families, also contact First Department and Prison Lawyer. The 8 800 hotline is switched off; only the bot works. Since 4 June 2026 it is on the Rosfinmonitoring list as 'extremist': do not repost its materials.
The only official bot is @ovdinfobot. It never asks for money or SMS codes.
abroadforeign agentextremiston Rosfinmonitoring listcontact matched to the organisation's site 26 September 2026
Get in touch ↓
This organisation is designated 'extremist' in Russia. It says that a consultation is not participation in its work, but messages on a phone that may be seized and reposts of its materials are dangerous. Write from a device you would not hand over if detained.