A relative was detained or went missing, or police came to the family

• Now: ask through the door for ID, which agency they're from and why they've come, and call a lawyer. Art. 51 of the Constitution lets you refuse to testify against yourself, your spouse and close relatives.
• You can decline a 'chat' or an informal interview: it isn't an interrogation. Interrogations require a formal summons; human rights groups advise asking for it in writing and going with a lawyer.
• If a relative was taken after a search: they may be at a police station (up to 48 hours), a temporary holding facility, then in SIZO by court order. Check district court websites, call duty desks, bring in a lawyer and the prison monitoring commission (ONK).
• If you can't find them: send written inquiries to holding facilities and SIZOs in the region and neighbouring ones via FSIN-pismo or Zonatelecom. The case may be run from another city, such as Moscow.
• Shared chats: human rights groups advise leaving sensitive group chats and not keeping other people's devices or papers at home. Whether to delete specific messages: ask a lawyer.
• By law, a person detained in a criminal case may phone their family within 3 hours of being brought to the investigator; if they don't, the investigator must notify relatives (Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 96). However, with the prosecutor's consent the investigator can keep the detention secret, except for minors, so silence in the first day does not necessarily mean the worst has happened.
• If someone is held on an administrative charge (for example, at a protest), relatives are told where they are only if the detainee asks; parents of a minor must always be told (Code of Administrative Offences, art. 27.3). So don't wait for a call: ring the police duty desks yourself and ask a lawyer to find out.
• While the investigation is under way, the investigator or court handling the case must 'immediately' tell one close relative where the person is held and where they have been moved (Law 103-FZ on pre-trial detention, art. 7). If you don't know where your relative is, send a written request to them, ideally through a lawyer.
• In treason and espionage cases, names in court records are usually hidden: in the first quarter of 2026 First Department (a 'foreign agent') counted at least 76 such convicted people out of 110. Searching court websites often finds nothing here, so search through a lawyer; First Department accepts requests via its bot.

current as of 7 October 2026. More: First Department: police at the door (guide for relatives) (foreign agent); First Department: a relative disappeared after a search (foreign agent); First Department: what to do about shared chats (foreign agent); First Department: treason and espionage cases, Q1 2026 (foreign agent); ConsultantPlus: Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 96 (notification of detention); ConsultantPlus: Code of Administrative Offences, art. 27.3 (administrative detention); Law 103-FZ on pre-trial detention (text on legalacts.ru, to be checked against ConsultantPlus)