They are courageous: young people who protest in Russia against the war in Ukraine face severe penalties. They serve as a deterrent for imitators. ‘Do you need a president like that?’ These words were written on leaflets by 15-year-old Arseniy Turbin from Livny and distributed through neighbours' letterboxes. On 20 June, he was sentenced to five years in prison by a military court in Moscow. The reason given was that

Evan Gershkovich was detained in the spring of 2023 in Ekaterinburg. Russian authorities accused him of espionage. According to the investigators, the journalist was commissioned by the CIA to collect information about Uralvagonzavod, which manufactures and repairs military equipment. The investigation claims that this information constitutes a state secret. Courts regularly extend the journalist's stay in pre-trial detention. Gershkovich does not admit guilt, insisting that he was engaged in Russia

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article on "discrediting" the army against Eduard Charov, a Christian preacher from the Sverdlovsk Region.   On 27 June, the notification about the initiation of the case was published by the preacher's wife Inna Charova, attention to the publication was drawn by the publication "7×7. Horizontal Russia. The reason for the case was a repost of a picture about

Arseniy Turbin, a 15-year-old resident of the town of Livny, Orel region, was sent to an educational colony for five years, allegedly for his participation in the Legion "Freedom of Russia" organisation*. The schoolboy Arseniy Turbin was under house arrest from 5 September 2023 to 31 May 2024 with the right to attend the lyceum, then he was released on his own recognizance, but soon - on 20 June 2024

A memoir written by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny before his imprisonment and death is to be published later this year. Navalny began work on his book while recovering from his 2020 poisoning with a nerve agent. He died in February after three years in jail for charges widely seen as politically motivated. His memoir will be "the full story of his life: his youth, his call to activism, his

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law amending provisions on property confiscation in Russia’s Criminal Code. The amendments allow for money, valuables, or other property obtained in the commission of crimes such as spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) or publicly calling for actions against the security of the state (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code) to be confiscated into state