Sometimes you’ll hear people say that in modern Russia, it’s a waste of money to hire a lawyer for politically motivated cases. After all, they say, the person will be found guilty either way, and they’ll still get a sentence.
We’re here to explain why having a lawyer is vital for political prisoners in Russia.
Kirill Butylin carried out the first known arson attack on a military enlistment office following the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 28th of February 2022 the young man threw Molotov cocktails at the enlistment office in the town of Lukhovitsa in the Moscow region.
On the 4th of January 2023 32 year old Yaroslav Vilchevski was arrested for posting on his telegram channel about the anarchist Mikhail Zhobitski. Radio Liberty has called him an anarchist, but himself he is identifying himself as animal rights activist and musician.
10th of April, the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg sentenced Roman Nasryev and Aleksey Nureyev to 19 years in prison for firebombing an administrative building, where the military registration desk is based. Roman and Aleksey must spend the first 4 years in prison, and the next — in a maximum-security penal colony.
This is the most severe sentence handed down so far for anti-war arson.
This update was provided by ABC-Moscow for German Das Antifaschistische Infoblatt issue 138. This version has some minor updates with numbers mentioned.
On the night of October 6 in Goryachi Klyuch city of Krasnodar region unknown persons set fire to military registration and enlistment office. The next day the law enforcers detained two suspects.
The detainees turned out to be 27-year-old citizen of Minsk (Belarus) Bogdan Abdurakhmanov and 34-year-old resident of Krasnodar Boris Goncharenko.
Yegor Balazeikin is sixteen years old.
Ilya is a young guy from Novosibirsk. He opposes war, loves animals and plays sports: from CrossFit to swimming. Ilya was detained at the end of September and accused of trying to set fire to the military enlistment office. The case was opened under the article on the organization of a terrorist attack (part 4 of article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which provides punishment from 15 to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment.
Ruslan Zinin’s mother Marina Zinina has reported that on March 21 [her son] was transferred to a solitary confinement cell without explanation.
“They came and took him away, saying, ‘Let’s go to another place.’ They put him in the basement in a solitary confinement cell. […] The conditions are terrible. It’s damp and cold and reeks of sewage, and rats are running around, and there’s nothing in the cell at all, except for a cot. There’s nowhere to store food, nowhere to get water, there’s no kettle, there’s nothing.”
Fundraiser for continuing Viktor “Vitya” Filinkov’s campaign against the FSIN, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service!
I haven’t written here for a long time generally and about Vitya in particular. We haven’t seen each other for almost two months. That’s an awfully long time, and I miss him terribly. Soon I will fly back to Orenburg and tell you how Vitya is doing, but after meeting with him.
Eastern Siberia is a harsh and inhospitable region, which was a place of imprisonment and exile for socialists and anarchists under the tsarist regime. As you can see, history repeats itself.
Here is how the Anarchist Black Cross of Irkutsk sums up the year of its work. It actually coincided with the anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine:
Logging truck driver Ruslan Zinin grabbed a sawed-off shotgun when, in the wake of the “partial” mobilization’s annoucement, a summons arrived for his brother. On September 26, Zinin went to the military enlistment office in Ust-Ilimsk (Irkutsk Region). Military commissar Alexander Yeliseyev was giving a speech as he dispatched dozens of people to the slaughter.
Kirill has been transferred to a remand prison in Tyumen. Support group sent a lawyer to discuss with him, but a letter of refusal was passed to lawyer 7th of March. Refusal was in handwriting of Kirill Brik, but we do not know in which conditions the letter has been signed, and there is no proof that Kirill is currently not being tortured.
Please call to remand prison of Tyumen, this way they will know that we are watching how they plan to treat Kirill:: +73452507104
Throughout February, like the previous months, we worked day in and day out, covering the persecution and providing support for those accused of anti-war activities. We were so immersed in work that we did not notice how the shortest month of the year ended. And now, with a little delay, we rush to tell you about the results of February.
In February, the participants of Solidarity Zone:
On March 6, 2022, Zhuchkov and Sergeev went to an anti-war demonstration in Moscow. However, the police detained them on their way: in the area of Pushkinskaya Square. Molotov cocktails were found in Sergeyev's backpack, and the men were taken to the police station.
On October 31, in the city Chita (Siberia, Russia) FSB officers detained Alexandr Snezhkov (19 years old) and Lyubov Lizunova (16 years old) because of graffiti “Death to the regime”. FSB was interested in their activities on the Internet as admins Telegram-channels «Shugan-25» and «75zlo».
Hi everyone! Today is Friday, 6th of January, a day when all the New Year’s salads are already eaten, and we continue our podcast of trends of order and chaos”. This is episode 87. These are the main topics on past two weeks’ (due to New Year) agenda.
Festival program is now published.
Hi everyone! Today is Sunday, 4 of December and we continue our weekly podcast “Trends of order and chaos” This is episode 83. This is what caught our attention in the past week..
1. What should the mobilized do?
In Kazan, at the 1st or 2nd of December the mobilized left in crowds the military unit and went home.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February, the anti-war movement spread to every corner of the country with demonstrations and direct actions. During the first 3 months of the war, more than 16,000 people were detained in the daily demonstrations. Many got immediate, short prison sentences without due process, as well as fines, and several felony cases were also opened. As demonstrating has become ingreasingly difficult, more people have begun relying on direct action as their tactic, such as arson attacks against military draft centers and railway sabotage actions.
The worst thing Putin has done in Ukraine is to reconcile the authorities with the people. The president has turned from an object of universal criticism into the Ukrainian Charles de Gaulle.1 The general of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry offers to deliver himself to the Russian army in...
The results of the first 30 years of “democracy” in Ukraine are, to put it mildly, unconvincing. The economy and the media are in the hands of rival oligarchs, corruption is at staggering levels, economic development lags behind many African countries, and in addition, the country has become the...
