Savely Frolov will turn 25 on 5 August. This will be his fourth birthday in captivity.
Savely is an antifascist and anti-war activist from Moscow who worked as an extreme sports instructor for children and teenagers. He was sentenced to six years in a general-regime penal colony and fined 100,000 roubles on charges of “preparing to commit high treason.” He has been imprisoned since 30 October 2022.
Savely Frolov was accused of preparing to join the Freedom of Russia Legion in order to take part in military action against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, Frolov attempted to leave Russia for Georgia, intending to travel from there to Turkey, then to Poland and finally to Ukraine, where he planned to join the legion.
Savely did indeed attempt to leave Russia after mobilisation was announced. At the time of his arrest, this was his second attempt to enter Georgia. The first time, on 29 September 2022, Georgian border guards refused him entry because they considered that he did not have enough money. On 30 October 2022, during another attempt to leave, Russian security officers detained Savely Frolov after searching him at the Verkhny Lars border crossing and took him to a police station in Vladikavkaz.
The young man most likely attracted attention because his backpack bore the words “Glory to Ukraine.” The following day, the Sovetsky District Court of Vladikavkaz sentenced him to 15 days’ detention for petty hooliganism. According to his lawyer, Yevgeny Smirnov, FSB officers repeatedly visited Frolov at the detention centre and questioned him, sometimes without a lawyer present.
After spending two weeks in the detention centre, Frolov was not released. On 14 November 2022, the court sentenced him to another 15 days’ detention, this time for failing to comply with border guards’ demands. The ruling stated that he had used a “smartphone-type telephone within the zone of additional security restrictions at the Verkhny Lars road border crossing.” On that occasion, he pleaded guilty.
On 30 November 2022, he was again sentenced to 15 days’ detention for petty hooliganism. According to the police, he had been swearing in the street. Frolov denied this in court.
On 12 December, a criminal case for “high treason” was opened against Savely, after which the court remanded him in pre-trial detention.
Savely has faced pressure from the prison administration. In 2024, he was threatened with transfer to strict conditions of detention for receiving the publication Prison Bulletin (source). It later became known that Savely had been assigned to the lowest caste in the informal prison hierarchy. As in Azat Miftakhov’s case, we assume that this was orchestrated by the security services through prisoners controlled by the administration. However, as an antifascist, Savely rejects hierarchies and discrimination, and therefore does not worry about the informal status imposed on him by the administration and other prisoners. “He simply doesn’t give a damn about it, that’s all,” says a comrade who knows Savely well and remains in contact with him.
We call on you to show solidarity and wish Savely a happy birthday. You can write him a letter or simply send him a birthday card. He will be glad to receive any news from outside.
Address for letters and cards - address and letters should be written in Russian, you may use online translation tools:182277, Псковская обл., Себежский р-н, пос. Сосновый Бор, ИК-6,
Фролов Савелий Александрович 2001 г.р.
Anarchist Black Cross Moscow
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