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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.

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.

At the "Father Frost against Putin 2026" festival, January 10 2026, political and trade-union activist Mikhail Lobanov talked about what is happening to the active part of Russian society — and how Russian socialists and anarchists should make use of the growing demand for left-wing ideas in order to prepare for the future struggle to democratize Russia and the world.