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Written by the support group:

On August 21, our dear Roma will turn 29. This will be the fourth birthday that our comrade will spend in detention.

From Telegram channel of Support Group of Kansk Teenagers:

Wish Nikita a Happy Birthday!

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.

The Tyumen Case has now been heard by the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg of Russia for two years. The defence is currently presenting evidence in court proving the innocence of our comrades.

Six substantive hearings are scheduled for August and the first half of September. We continue our fight for the freedom of Nikita Oleynik, Deniz Aydin, Yury Neznamov, Danil Chertykov, and Roman Paklin.

Today, July 21, anarchist Deniz Aydin celebrates his birthday. He turns 27 years old.

Deniz is an anarchist and anti-fascist from Tyumen. He played guitar in two bands: the hardcore group Siberian Brigade and the black metal project RASPUTIN. Shortly before his arrest, he enrolled in college to train as a locomotive driver. He planned to continue developing as a musician and dreamed of creating a support fund for political prisoners.

Lyubov Lizunova willturn 20 years old.

In April 2024, Lyuba was sentenced to three and a half years in a general-regime penal colony over posts published on the Telegram channels. Two of the posts described anti-war direct action protests in the Transbaikal region. Initially, Lyuba was also prosecuted on a vandalism charge for the graffiti "Death to the regime" painted on the outskirts of Chita, but that case was later dropped after the statute of limitations expired.

In June, the Fires of Freedom took part in seven events across France. At each event, project representative and former political prisoner Ivan Astashin spoke about the connection between the war in Ukraine and political repression in Russia, Russian anarchists' opposition to the war, and the criminal cases brought against them.

In June, a series of presentations and discussions will take place across France focusing on imprisoned anarchists and anti-fascists in Russia, anti-war resistance, and solidarity with Ukrainian society.

This will be the ninth birthday he spends behind bars.

Vasily was arrested in the autumn of 2017 and sentenced to nine years in a general-regime penal colony. During these years in prison, he has faced many hardships, contracted and recovered from tuberculosis, and been transferred between several colonies. Before his arrest, he lived in Penza, worked as a design engineer, played music, and helped animal shelters.

Lawyer Igor Popovsky, who represented the anarchist Ruslan Sidiki and sought an investigation into his allegations of torture, has been detained on charges of “fraud on an especially large scale”. This was reported by The Insider media outlet, citing the leak-oriented Telegram channel “112.”

According to the channel, investigators claim that Popovsky received 6 million rubles from his client after promising to help terminate the criminal case through influence over the court and the prosecutor’s office.

He will turn 31 years old. According to the support group, this is already the fourth birthday he is spending in captivity.

On April 21, the day after arriving at the colony, Azat was taken to the administration building. They tried to force him to clean a toilet there. After he refused, he was systematically tortured. Yesterday, The Insider published a detailed account by Azat, which they translated into English today. We are republishing an article by The Insider, in which Azat also names his torturers. You may find the postal address and details for financial support after the translation.

Anarchist, mathematician, and political prisoner Azat Miftakhov was sentenced on March 28, 2024, to 4 additional years in prison. On September 4, 2023, he was detained upon leaving IK-17 in Omutninsk, Kirov region, where he had already served his first sentence—allegedly for breaking a window at a United Russia office in Moscow’s Khovrino district. The basis for the new prosecution for “justifying terrorism” was (allegedly) comments Azat made while watching a TV program with other inmates about anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who carried out an explosion at the FSB office in Arkhangelsk.

How did a young, successful programmer become a “terrorist” and “extremist”? How did prisoners and prison guards react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? And why did some prisoners, even those who were in prison for desertion, go to war? Viktor Filinkov, a defendant in the “Network” case who got 7 years in prison, talked about this in an interview with Posle.

He will turn 38 years old. Ruslan Sidiki is a citizen of Russia and Italy, an electrician from Ryazan, an explorer of industrial areas, bicycle traveler, anarchist, and partisan. Last year the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Ruslan Sidiki to a record 29 years in prison. Two acts of sabotage against Russian military infrastructure carried out by Ruslan in 2023 were classified by the court as “terrorist acts.”

Anarchist Ruslan Sidiki, who was sentenced to 29 years in prison, continues to await his appeal in the Ryazhsk pre-trial detention center (SIZO) in the Ryazan region.

But this is not just waiting — it is a constant struggle. Ruslan is being denied access to books, newspapers subscribed in his name do not reach him, and for the second time in a row the same investigator has refused to open a criminal case regarding the torture Ruslan endured during his arrest.

Other Defendants in the Antifa United Case Receive 2.5 and 3.5 Years.

Judge Ekaterina Stepina of the Izmailovsky District Court of Moscow delivered a verdict to three antifascists in the case of Antifa United, which law enforcement agencies—and now the court as well—consider an “extremist community.”

On February 8, Danil Chertykov turns 32 years old. He is celebrating his birthday in captivity for 4th time.

Danil Chertykov is an anarchist and antifascist from Yekaterinburg. He worked as a veterinarian, and in his free time devoted himself to music, playing guitar in the riot-folk band Rocker Balboa.