Political Abuse of Psychiatry in Russia 2015 - 2024


1	Year of abuse	REGION * Controlled by Russia	NAME	SEX	BIRTH YEAR*	AGE GROUP	INPATIENT	WAR	COMPULSORY TREATMENT BY COURT DECISION	CURRENTLY UNDER COMPULSORY INPATIENT TREATMENT	STORY – up to March 20, 2025

2	2025	Chelyabinsk region	Borovinskikh, Pyotr (?)	m	1977	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	The court website, which published information on the application of compulsory medical measures, has removed the personal data of the individual in question. However, based on the combination of circumstances—geographical location and the charges under the Criminal Code—the SOVA Research Center has reasonably concluded that the person in question is Pyotr Borovinskikh. Pyotr Borovinskikh, born in 1977, is a resident of the city of Kopeysk (Chelyabinsk Region) and an opposition blogger. Borovinskikh maintains accounts on several social media platforms, including Facebook, VKontakte, and YouTube. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he began posting anti-war content. In March 2022, he was charged under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code, later with the aggravating circumstance under paragraph "d" of Part 2 of the same article (dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces and the activities of Russian state bodies abroad, motivated by political or ideological hatred) for posts about the shelling of Mariupol, which he published in his VKontakte group "Kopeysk Without Putin's Fascism." In July 2022, another case was initiated against him under Part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code (dissemination, via the internet, of information expressing obvious disrespect for society about days of military glory and commemorative dates of Russia related to the defense of the Fatherland). The charges stemmed from his VKontakte posts sharing video clips that the investigation interpreted as a distortion of the annual military parade on Red Square. The SOVA Center considers Borovinskikh's prosecution to be unlawful. On February 7, 2025, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court issued a ruling to terminate the criminal prosecution of the accused under these articles and to impose compulsory medical measures against him.
3	2024	Krasnoyarsk region	Yelizar'yeva Yevgeniya 2	f	1972	x	yes	no	yes	yes	Yevgeniya Yelizar'yeva — born in 1972, a resident of Krasnoyarsk, an environmental activist, and politician. She has repeatedly spoken out against police violence, the waste reform, the construction of a graveyard for the Class 1-2 radioactive waste, and other projects of Rosatom. She regularly participates in legal proceedings and maintains a vibrant and radical style on social media. On October 29, 2024, Yelizaryeva was detained again (see also Yelizar'yeva Yevgeniya 2). Police officers informed her that she was wanted, though Yelizaryeva claims she received no summons or notifications and, moreover, had been regularly visiting courts over the past month in connection with her husband’s arrest. After her detention, Evgenia was taken to Krasnoyarsk Regional Psychoneurological Dispensary No. 1. According to her attorney, there is a court order requiring her to spend 30 days in the hospital.
4	2024	Mari El	Seregin Aleksei	m		young	no	yes	no	no	Aleksei Seregin, a resident of Yoshkar-Ola (Mari El), is a journalist, blogger, and former coordinator for the election rights advocacy group "Golos." Seregin has contributed to various publications, including “MK in Mari El”, “7x7”, “Idel.Realii”, and runs his own Telegram channel "Nothing Will Happen in Mari El." In January 2023, Deputy Mayor of Yoshkar-Ola, Sergei Mukhortov, filed a police complaint against Seregin, accusing him of "discrediting" the Russian army. The accusation stemmed from Seregin’s repost of a photograph on his Telegram channel that showed a poster and flowers placed by local residents in memory of the victims of the bombed apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. At that time, Seregin got off lightly with just a police summons for a conversation, but soon after, he began receiving anonymous phone calls demanding he stop posting on Telegram, under the threat of criminal charges and a potential 10- to 20-year sentence. Then, in August of the same year, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court fined him 5,000 rubles under Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Offenses Code for “inciting hatred or enmity” due to a comment criticizing politically motivated arrests and detentions. On October 25, 2024, Seregin was approached in the street by an individual who identified himself as a "volunteer from the Special Military Operation" (a term referring to the war in Ukraine in official Russian terminology). The individual demanded that Seregin stop posting photos of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine, claiming that these posts led Ukrainians to harass the families of the deceased. Seregin refused, citing that the information is public. At that moment, police officers arrived, claiming that they were following up on a report of a person matching his description who was allegedly involved in a theft. Both men were detained. The provocateur stated that he would file a complaint against Seregin, alleging threats and insults. Under the pretense of Seregin's "aggressive behavior," the police transported him to the Republic Psychiatric Hospital of Mari El, where Dr. Olga Vasilyevna Abdurakhmanova declined to admit him, as she found no signs of aggression.
5	2024	Sverdlovsk region	Sokolov Aleksei Veniaminovich	m	1973	x	yes	no	no	no	Aleksei Sokolov, born in 1973, resident of Yekaterinburg, human rights defender, and head of the organization "Legal Basis," which advocates for prisoners' rights. In October 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg found Sokolov guilty under an administrative charge of displaying the symbols of an extremist organization (Part 1, Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), sentencing him to five days in detention. The "extremist organization" in question was Facebook, whose logo was displayed on the website of human rights organization, "Ural Human Rights Defenders." (In 2022, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was designated an extremist organization in Russia.) On July 5, 2024, authorities conducted searches at the homes of Sokolov and his relatives. During the operation, Sokolov was beaten, detained, and had his equipment and documents seized. His arrest was prompted by a new criminal charge of repeated display of banned Facebook symbols (Part 1, Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code), this time in the Telegram channel "Ural Human Rights Defenders." Sokolov’s colleagues believe his arrest is motivated by his human rights work. He has repeatedly reported severe rights violations by the Federal Penitentiary Service (GUFSIN), including recent findings on beatings, forced shavings, and abuse of prisoners in Correctional Colony No. 10 in Yekaterinburg. During the search, authorities were specifically looking for video evidence related to these reports. The court ordered Sokolov to undergo an involuntary forensic psychiatric evaluation, and on September 5, 2024, he was placed in the treatment and diagnostic unit of Sverdlovsk Clinical Hospital No. 1. Sokolov’s lawyer, Fedor Akchermyshev, noted that he was not informed of the evaluation order, nor was Sokolov previously diagnosed with any condition warranting an inpatient rather than outpatient evaluation. According to Sokolov, who spent about three weeks in the hospital, his tea, coffee, cup, sugar, and water heater were confiscated upon admission, and he was provided with torn bedding and clothing. Additionally, his room lacked proper ventilation, and the required 15-minute outdoor walks were not conducted daily, contrary to regulations.
6	2024	Moscow	Rudenko Timofey Alexandrovich	m	1992	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Timofey Rudenko, born in 1992, is a resident of Moscow, a military psychologist by training, and a reserve lieutenant who was working at an auto repair shop at the time of his arrest. In the spring of 2022, Timofey spoke out on social media against the war in Ukraine. The specific content of his comments is unknown, but they were reportedly measured in tone and did not overtly violate Russian laws. This is indicated by the fact that after a search of his apartment in May 2022, he was arrested not under anti-war charges but on an administrative charge of minor hooliganism (Part 1 of Article 20.1 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses). According to Timofey, he was tortured by police officers in Moscow's Novokosino district after his detention, with the officers demanding he sign a confession admitting to planning a terrorist attack on May 9. Following his initial 10-day detention, Rudenko was subjected to the “carousel arrest” practice commonly used in Russia. This tactic involves rearresting a person charged with an administrative offense immediately upon release, which is employed to break down detainees physically and psychologically and to buy time to gather evidence for more serious criminal charges. The first series of carousel arrests for Timofey ended in June 2022. On May 18, 2023, Rudenko was detained again at Zhukovsky airport in Moscow while attempting to fly to Bishkek. A new cycle of arrests began, with each time resulting in a guilty verdict for minor hooliganism, alleging he used profanity in central Moscow—even though he had barely left the gates of a detention center on the city outskirts before each subsequent arrest. On July 20, 2023, a few days before his latest administrative detention was due to end, it was announced that criminal charges had been filed against him under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code for public incitement to terrorism, public justification of terrorism, or terrorist propaganda online. According to the investigation, Rudenko, using the alias “Maimul Maimulovich,” allegedly commented on posts in a Telegram channel called “Crimea – Land of Partisan Glory.” These comments purportedly contained statements justifying actions of members of illegal armed groups, supporters of Dzhokhar Dudayev operating in Chechnya, and fighters against Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine. The investigation claims these comments supported individuals involved in terrorism in Chechnya, specifically Dudayev and the Chechen commander Khattab, and incited acts of terrorism and sabotage against Russian government agencies. Human rights advocates argue that there is no substantial evidence proving Rudenko was indeed the author of the posts from this account, nor that the posts meet the legal criteria of the charges filed. On February 6, 2024, Judge Vadim Vladimirovich Krasnov of the 2nd Western District Military Court ordered compulsory medical treatment for Rudenko. According to the “Political Prisoner Support” project by Memorial, Timofey Rudenko is recognized as a political prisoner. He is currently held at Moscow’s Psychiatric Clinical Hospital No. 5 in the town of Chekhov.
7	2024	Moscow	Vasilyev Ilya Vladimirovich	m	1973	x	yes	yes	no	no	Ilya Vasilyev, also known as Arvi Hacker, born in 1973, is a resident of Moscow, a programmer, and a practicing Buddhist. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Ilya expressed his anti-war views on social media. In May 2023, his apartment was searched, and his phone was confiscated. Judge O.P. Cherepovskaya of the Preobrazhensky District Court of Moscow fined him 40,000 rubles for "discrediting" the Russian army (part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). On June 20, 2024, a criminal case was initiated against Vasilyev under the article on spreading "fakes" about the Russian army out of political hatred (subparagraph "d" part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for posts written in English on Facebook, which the authorities accessed by confiscating his phone a year earlier. Ilya was detained, and on June 22, Judge Andrey Kuznetsov of the Preobrazhensky District Court of Moscow ordered his arrest. The linguistic evaluation of Vasilyev's texts was conducted by Danila Mikheev, who is under sanctions and lacks the necessary qualifications. It is also known that the "expert" had signed a two-year contract to serve in the Russian army in the spring of 2023 and is supposedly engaged in military service. On August 28, the court ordered Vasilyev to undergo inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation at the Serbsky Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry. The evaluation lasted about a month, and according to his lawyer, who visited him in the hospital, Ilya described the conditions of his confinement as relatively decent. He was assigned a private room, and the food was better than what he received in the detention center. However, his access to information was severely restricted: he did not receive any letters, two of his letters to his mother never reached her, and he was unable to get any news, not even through television.
8	2024	Crimea*	Kurtnezirov Remzi	m	1962	middle	yes	no	no	no	Remzi Kurtnezirov, born in 1962, a resident of the village of Lobanovo in the Dzhankoy district of Crimea, is a former imam who stopped working due to health issues and is classified as a Group 2 disabled person. On March 5, 2024, searches were conducted in the homes of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea as part of a case concerning alleged participation in the banned terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir (Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). (In Russia, the prosecution of individuals for supposed membership in this organization is part of a broad, indiscriminate campaign of repression against Muslims.) Ten people, including Remzi, were detained. Later, the court placed him under house arrest due to his health condition. In August 2024, it became known that Kurtnezirov had spent a month in a hospital undergoing a compulsory inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation. During this time, he lost 12 kg because he was unable to eat properly and could not pray due to the lack of suitable conditions. Additionally, the overall conditions in the hospital were degrading: a shared toilet without partitions, no possibility to wash, and 11 people housed in a single ward. Furthermore, while in the hospital, Remzi was unable to contact his family. Kurtnezirov's attorney, Emil Kurbedinov, relayed a commonly cited reason used by investigators for the indiscriminate referral of all suspects under "terrorism" charges for psychiatric evaluations: "What if he [during the trial] starts pretending to be insane?"
9	2024	St. Petersburg	Anonymous	m	1968	middle	yes	yes	yes	yes	A man, whose name is not disclosed in the court ruling, born in 1968, and a resident of St. Petersburg. This unnamed resident of St. Petersburg posted messages about the war in Ukraine on a social media platform, which led to a criminal case being initiated against him in May 2024 under the article on "spreading fakes" about the Russian army (subparagraph "d" part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The court imposed a travel restriction as a preventive measure and also ordered his placement in a psychiatric facility. It is known that the defendant attempted to evade prosecution and hospitalization. He was declared wanted, later apprehended, and placed in Detention Facility No. 1, "Kresty." He spent about a month in the detention center before being transferred to a psychiatric hospital. In September 2024, the St. Petersburg City Court was scheduled to hear an appeal regarding the decision to place him in the psychiatric hospital, but the hearing was canceled for unknown reasons.
10	2024	Moscow	Sokirko Aleksei	m	1974	x	no	no	no	no	Aleksei Sokirko, born in 1974, a resident of Moscow, is an opposition activist and a member of a group supporting Ukrainian refugees in Russia. On July 5, 2024, Sokirko was detained in Moscow for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "I am against Putin." While in the police station, Aleksei, trying to understand the reasons for his detention, asked the officers if it would be permissible to wear a T-shirt with the slogan "I am against Stalin." In response, the police summoned a psychiatric emergency team. Fortunately, the arriving paramedics refused to hospitalize Sokirko. At the police's insistence, Aleksei removed the T-shirt as it was considered "material evidence," but underneath it, he was wearing another T-shirt with a peace symbol. The police were unsure whether to allow him to keep wearing this shirt, but after consulting with the Center for Combating Extremism, they decided that it was "hippie clothing" and therefore not prohibited. On July 18, Judge Orekhova of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow sentenced Sokirko to 40 hours of community service under the article for participating in an unauthorized public event (part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offenses Code).
11	2024	Moscow	Gaevsky Andrei Yurievich	m	1983	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	Andrei Gaevsky, born in 1983, is a resident of Moscow. In 2022, according to investigative authorities, Andrei published a post on the social network VKontakte with information about crimes committed by Russian military personnel in Bucha. In June 2023, Gaevsky was detained and fined under the article for disobedience to a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code). In March 2024, a criminal case was initiated against him under the article for publicly disseminating false information about the Russian army motivated by political hatred (subparagraph (d), part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On June 7, 2024, Judge Borisenkova of the Nagatinsky District Court of Moscow acquitted Gaevsky of criminal liability and imposed compulsory medical measures on him.
12	2024	Moscow region	Shestun Alexander Vyacheslavovich	m	1964	middle	yes	no	no	no	Alexander Shestun, born in 1964, is a resident of Serpukhov (Moscow region). He was the head of the Serpukhov Municipal District and a member of the United Russia party, advocating for the closure of a landfill in the Serpukhov district. He is the father of five children. In 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of bribery, fraud, and insulting government officials. His 86-year-old mother, wife, and two minor children were evicted from their home by court order. The persecution of Shestun began after his public conflict with the governor of the Moscow region, representatives of the FSB, and other agencies. He was recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Center because this persecution prevented him from participating in local elections and subjected him to a demonstrably unjust and baseless trial for daring to criticize higher authorities. While in custody, Alexander went on several hunger strikes to protest not only against gross violations of detention conditions but also for the release of political prisoners in Russia. He was placed in the Kashchenko Psychiatric Hospital in St. Petersburg and the psychiatric wards of the Butyrka and Matrosskaya Tishina prison hospitals, where he was subjected to forced feeding. In 2023, a new criminal case was initiated against Shestun under Article 321 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Disorganization of the activities of institutions ensuring isolation from society"). According to Alexander, the reason for this new case was his complaints about the conditions in Penal Colony 6 in the Tver region, including the cold. In March 2024, Shestun was sent to a neuropsychiatric dispensary in the village of Burashovo (Tver region) for an inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation as part of the new criminal case. Alexander spent 28 days there and was declared sane. Here is how he described the conditions in the hospital: "In the triangular rooms, there are no windows, and the ventilation is sealed shut, as it is throughout the entire ward. In the toilet - a hole in the floor - there is an anthill. The only way to ventilate the room is by opening the door. The roof leaks terribly. For some reason, men are forced to wear local rainbow-colored underwear, while women are allowed to have their own underwear. Socks, shoes, jackets, and hats must be personal." "Personal razors are not allowed, and the local ones are of such poor quality that they scrape off the stubble along with the skin. The daily one-hour walk in the fenced yard is allowed only for the detainees under evaluation. All recognized mentally ill citizens, who are hundreds of times more numerous, have no opportunity to be outdoors at all, which is extremely harmful to brain function." "The head of the detention ward, Vladimir Kurakin, and the expert doctor, Ivan Aksakov, more resembled career officers of the special services in their demeanor and manner of communication. It seemed as if they wore epaulettes under their white coats. It hardly seemed that this pair could be interested in the depths of the soul."
13	2024	Chita region	Berezin Oleg Andreevich	m	2005	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Oleg Berezin, born in 2005, is a resident of Krasnokamensk (Chita Region). He is the creator and one of the administrators of the Telegram channel "Siberian Liberation Movement." In April 2022, Oleg met an anonymous resident of Irkutsk online (later revealed to be 16-year-old Ilya Podkamenny). They bonded over their mutual disapproval of Russia's war in Ukraine and the idea of Siberia seceding from the Russian Federation. On May 10, Ilya scattered leaflets on the railway in the Shelekhov District of the Irkutsk Region and wrapped copper wire around the tracks to trigger a red signal and stop a train. The text was handwritten on notebook paper and contained slogans such as "Death to Katsaps, freedom to Siberia," "Glory to the Republic of Siberia," "Like it or not, the Empire will fall apart," and "We'll hang Putinists on trees instead of leaves, death to fascist Putin." Podkamenny managed to escape. Oleg and Ilya continued co-administering the Telegram channel and exchanged messages online. Likely due to these activities, law enforcement authorities identified and arrested both of them in November 2022. It is known that both gave confessions. Oleg Berezin's case was investigated separately. He was charged with incitement to terrorism and extremism on the internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 and Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). On February 6, the 2nd Eastern District Military Court ordered compulsory medical measures against him.
14	2024	Sverdlovsk region	Makhnorylova Svetlana Nikolaevna	f	1964	middle	yes	yes	no	no	Svetlana Makhnorylova, born in 1964, is a resident of Verkhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk Region) and originally from Belarus. She is a pensioner. Between 2020 and 2023, she posted emotional and sometimes crude comments and shared articles on the social network VKontakte. From the moment Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, her online statements took on an anti-war character. Opposing the war with what she called the "brotherly people," she provided an anti-Semitic explanation: "Everything is going according to their Zionist plan, the extermination of idiots at their own expense. When the RF [Russian Federation] idiots run out, the war will end! Smart ones will not fight against the brotherly people!" Throughout 2023, Makhnorylova was repeatedly fined and once arrested for 10 days under articles for inciting hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), displaying Nazi symbols (Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), and discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). However, later, she faced criminal charges and experienced two episodes of psychiatric abuse. The first episode is linked to a criminal case for justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) initiated in December 2023. In February 2024, she was placed in the Sverdlovsk Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital for a forensic psychiatric evaluation. In March, it became known that Makhnorylova faced an additional five charges under articles for insulting the feelings of believers (Article 148 of the Criminal Code) and rehabilitating Nazism (Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). The investigative authorities requested another evaluation from the court. Svetlana objected to repeated hospitalization, but on May 2, 2024, the Kirovograd City Court ordered her to undergo another mandatory inpatient evaluation at the same hospital. According to her, she is only allowed to use her phone for one hour a day, which significantly complicates her life. For instance, it was only through a journalist that she learned about having been placed on the Rosfinmonitoring list of terrorists and extremists.
15	2024	Komi Republic	Skobov Alexander Valeryevich	m	1957	middle	yes	yes	no	no	Alexander Skobov, born in 1957, is a resident of Saint Petersburg, a public figure, a publicist, a history teacher, and a Soviet dissident. In 1978 and 1982, Skobov was subjected to involuntary treatment in psychiatric hospitals based on court decisions related to accusations of anti-Soviet activities. In 1989, Skobov underwent a voluntary evaluation during a visit by a delegation from the American Psychiatric Association to the USSR. The American psychiatrists found him to be sane, competent, and mentally healthy. Skobov, who has been vocally and actively opposed to the Russian authorities, the Chechen wars and the annexation of Crimea, condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, openly writing about it on his Telegram channel. In particular, he discussed the bombing of the Crimean Bridge in 2023 and the terrorist attack at Moscow's "Crocus City Hall." In February 2024, he participated online in the Free Russia Forum held in Vilnius (the Free Russia Forum is designated as an undesirable organization in the Russian Federation). In March, Skobov was declared a foreign agent. In April, Alexander was detained in Saint Petersburg on charges of justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and participating in the activities of an undesirable organization (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). He was placed in a pre-trial detention center (SIZO). Later, the FSB of the Komi Republic charged him with participation in a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and Skobov was transferred to Syktyvkar. On May 21, 2024, Skobov was sent for a compulsory forensic psychiatric evaluation at the Republican Psychiatric Hospital in Komi. According to his wife, Olga Shcheglova, the doctors at the hospital are "adequate": they informed her that no medication would be prescribed during the evaluation.
16	2024	Omsk region	Anton Olegovich Platov	m	1990	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Anton Platov, born in 1990, is a resident of Omsk. He worked as a software developer. On February 6, 2023, messages appeared in Omsk social media groups stating that Anton Platov had gone missing. On February 10, it was reported that he had been found alive. It turned out he had been detained by the police on suspicion of attempting to set fire to the military enlistment office on the night of February 9. The arson attempt failed because none of the bottles containing an incendiary mixture, thrown into the windows of the enlistment office, exploded. A criminal case was opened against Platov on charge of intentional damage to property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), later reclassified as committing a terrorist act resulting in significant damage to property (part "b" of Article 205, Part 2, of the Criminal Code). Since his arrest, Platov has been held in pretrial detention. On February 6, 2024, Judge Davydov of the 1st Eastern District Military Court acquitted Platov of criminal liability, declared him legally incompetent, and ordered him to undergo involuntary treatment at a psychiatric hospital. Anton is currently held at the Regional Prison Hospital No. 11.
17	2024	Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	Yakunichev Igor Aleksandrovich	m	1988	x	yes	yes	no	no	Igor Yakunichev, born in 1988, is a resident of the village Pangody in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. He is a video blogger and a figure in at least three criminal cases for his anti-war statements. Following Russia's full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Igor, openly expressed his anti-war stance and posted links to materials about the war on his VKontakte social media page and in YouTube. In May 2022, he uploaded his own video titled "Are Rashists Violating Articles 7.13 and 20.1 of the RF Administrative Code?" about the appearance of the letter Z on a T-54 tank at a local memorial dedicated to victory in the Great Patriotic War. According to Yakunichev, this was a violation of the law on protection of cultural heritage sites. The video was accompanied by a comment: "For Putin's assholes, lovers of Z-ging and V-ging, I will explain in advance: you'll get your asses handed to you in military defeat by Ukraine. No matter what kind of propaganda crap you spew, don't expect victory euphoria." On June 21, 2022, Judge Elena Vyacheslavovna Minikhаnova of the Nadymsky City Court of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug fined Yakunichev 30,000 rubles under the article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). In May 2023, a search was conducted at Igor's home, prompted by his posts on VKontakte about the crimes of the Russian army in Bucha. He was detained, beaten, but released after questioning. A criminal case was initiated against him for "fakes" about the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). In early March 2024, this case went to court. As part of this case, Yakunichev underwent an inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation. Second criminal case against him was initiated in December 2023 under the article on justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The ground was the publication of a video about the "Freedom of Russia" legion. In March 2024, it became known about initiation of the third case, this time under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). The ground was publication of a video about the Russian soldiers’shooting Ukrainian inhabitants of the village Berezovka. In addition, Igor's mother, while posting information about his prosecution on his YouTube channel, also wrote about the fourth case, under the article on terrorism (Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). On April 1, 2024, another search was conducted at the Yakunichev family home, after which Igor was forcibly taken to a psychiatric hospital in the village of Vinzili (Tyumen Region) for a forensic psychiatric evaluation. On May 3, 2024, Yakunichev was transported from the hospital to the Salekhard City Court, which ordered his transfer to a pre-trial detention center (SIZO).
18	2024	Sverdlovsk region	Shepelev Rafail Viktorovich	m	1970	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	Rafail Shepelev - born in 1970, a former resident of Yekaterinburg, entrepreneur. An opposition activist, he was repeatedly detained during protest actions. In September 2021, he emigrated to Georgia, where he regularly participated in pickets in support of the arrested President Mikhail Saakashvili. He is a vegetarian and an advocate for non-violent protest. On the morning of October 12, 2023, Rafail left his home on Mtsaminda Street in Tbilisi and disappeared. His personal belongings, money, and documents were left at home. He told a colleague that he would return by 4 p.m. According to his friends, he had no intention of returning to Russia. Shepelev was reported missing by the Georgian police. It was revealed that he had taken a taxi to the village of Kirbali, near the occupation border (administrative border with the Tskhinvali region). The taxi driver reported that Shepelev paid him half of the agreed fare, asked him to wait for his return, and headed towards the border with the occupied territory of Georgia, which is not controlled by official Tbilisi. Local residents saw some Russians (presumably FSB frontier guards) take Rafail across this border. It is not quite clear why Rafail went to this meeting. His associates put forward various versions - from blackmail or deception by the Russian FSB to the possibility that he was "turned in" by the Georgian authorities, annoyed by his speeches in defense of Saakashvili. Later it was revealed that on October 13, the day after his disappearance, the Soviet District Court of Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia) found Shepelev guilty of "petty hooliganism" (part 1 of article 20.1 of the Administrative Code) and sentenced him to administrative arrest, and immediately after his release, he was placed in pre-trial detention on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization (part 2 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and justifying terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). It is unknown specifically what charges are being brought against Rafail. Then Shepelev was transported - a process lasting no less than a month and a half - to Nizhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk Region). He was subjected to a forensic psychiatric evaluation, and the commission of experts from the Sverdlovsk Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital concluded that Rafail was legally incompetent at the time of the alleged offenses and is subject to compulsory treatment in a medical facility. On April 18, 2024, the Kushva City Court of Sverdlovsk Region ordered compulsory treatment for Shepelev. Rafail's son, Danil Shepelev, was recognized as his legal representative. Danil stated that the recognition of his father as legally incompetent was "prosecution for an opinion" and that during the evaluation, his father's words were "taken out of context and interpreted the way it fit them." He also stated that the special services, which abducted Rafail from Georgia and then declared him legally incompetent, had disgraced themselves, wasting huge resources to catch "an ordinary 'fool' instead of hunting real terrorists." Nevertheless, despite Shepelev being declared insane, criminal prosecution continued. On October 15, 2024, at a session of the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg, he stated that he had mistakenly believed the people he met in Georgia, who later kidnapped him, to be agents of the Security Service of Ukraine, whom he had expected to help him travel to Ukraine and join one of its army units.
19	2024	Rostov region	Anonymous	m		young	yes	yes	yes	yes	An anonymous man, resident of Novocherkassk (Rostov region). The name, age of the person involved, and details of the case are unavailable. It is only known that during the period after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion into Ukraine and until February 8, 2024, when the verdict became known, a certain man wrote on social media about the "Free Russia Legion," calling on Russian citizens to join it, declaring his intention to join it himself and fight on the side of Ukraine. The "Free Russia Legion" was recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, although its actual existence is questioned by some independent journalists and public figures. According to the results of a psycho-linguistic examination of the texts, they contained "signs of incitement to violence against persons of Russian nationality." A forensic psychiatric evaluation declared the man mentally incompetent. The Oktyabrsky District Court of the Rostov Region found him guilty of publicly inciting extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentenced him to compulsory treatment in a general psychiatric hospital, exempting him from criminal liability.
20	2024	Kaliningrad region	Nedvetskaya Olga Dmitrievna 2	f	1963	middle	yes	no	yes	no	Olga Nedvetskaya, born in 1963 and residing in Kaliningrad, is originally from Belarus. Trained as a theater director, she is now retired. Since 2013, Nedvetskaya has been a member of the precinct election commission and has participated in opposition rallies. In 2021, she was fined 10,000 rubles for participating in a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. Olga encountered forced hospitalization to a psychiatric hospital for the first time in 2022. On March 13, she was detained on the central square of the city, where opposition-minded residents periodically gathered. On that day, Olga sang several Ukrainian songs. She was initially charged with petty hooliganism but was later taken by ambulance to Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. The reason given was that she allegedly used foul language. Nedvetskaya spent a month in the hospital, but it is unknown on what grounds she was there and how this hospitalization proceeded. In March 2024, Olga was working at the presidential elections as a member of the precinct election commission. On the evening of March 16, the second day of the three-day elections, Nedvetskaya was detained and put into an unmarked car outside the electoral commission office. She recognized the individuals who detained her as employees of the Center for Combating Extremism. Olga was taken to the same psychiatric hospital where she was two years ago. She managed to inform her relatives about this over the phone before the connection was cut off. According to her, the detention and forced hospitalization were intended to prevent her participation in the final day of the elections. In the hospital, Olga's phone was confiscated, but calls were made from it without her knowledge. Lawyer Roman Morozov was initially denied access to her; he was not allowed into the hospital for two days, citing a nonexistent terrorist threat. On March 21, a court hearing took place on the premises of the hospital. Judge I.S. Kuzovleva of the Leningrad District Court of Kaliningrad decreed the involuntary hospitalization of Nedvetskaya in a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period. According to lawyer Morozov, the decision relied upon a medical assessment composed by a panel of physicians consisting of doctors Berdnikov, Kulagin, and A.A. Abramova (the latter being the deputy chief physician for medical affairs). The lawyer noted that the conclusion did not contain any research component; it did not specify the diagnosis, treatment methods, or treatment plan. Additionally, the court refused to examine Nedvetskaya's medical documents provided by the defense. Furthermore, according to Morozov, the already written court's decision was seen in the judge's document folder even before the decision was made. The attending physician Tatiana Shubina visited Nedvetskaya for the first time only on March 18th. The first thing she asked was, "Olga Dmitrievna, why are you here? You know, Yulia Viktorovna Kostina [the head of the women's ward] and I are outraged that they are bringing you to us." A few days later, the doctor advised Olga to "behave more quietly" and reminded her about her family. On April 16, 2024, the hospital's medical commission decided that she did not need hospitalization, and Olga could go home. After her release, she announced that psychiatrist Stanislav Berdnikov, who was on duty on March 16 and took part in her hospitalization, committed a medical crime. According to her, upon arrival, the ground for her placement in the hospital was not explained to her. The employee only said, "Directive from above. Stay here, rest. As for your treatment, the doctor will sort it out."
21	2024	Krasnoyarsk region	no	f	1968	middle	yes	no	no	yes	Olga Suvorova - born in 1968, a resident of Krasnoyarsk. She is a public figure and a member of the political opposition movement "Soft Power." On December 13, 2023, Suvorova stated that an officer from the Department for Combating Economic Crimes in the Krasnoyarsk Region had inflicted bodily harm on her during a planned appointment in the police station by trying to push her out. Law enforcement agencies dismissed this accusation and initiated a case against her for false denunciation of a police officer (Article 306 of the Criminal Code). On December 18, upon returning from Moscow after a meeting with the initiative group of former presidential candidate Ekaterina Duntsova, Olga was detained at the Krasnoyarsk airport. Later, the court imposed a measure of restraint on her in the form of a ban on using the internet and ordered her to undergo outpatient psychiatric evaluation. On December 28, Suvorova underwent evaluation, the results of which, among other things, stated: "She is focused on helping others...," "From school age, she actively participated in the school's public life; actively participated in the region's public life, which deviates from the usual person's behavior..." Based on this, on January 31, 2024, the court ordered Olga to undergo compulsory inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation for 30 days. On May 16, 2024, law enforcement officers detained Suvorova in the hospital, where she was undergoing treatment after surgery on her leg, and brought her to a psychoneurological dispensary in Krasnoyarsk. According to Olga, the conditions in the dispensary are humiliating: they give out a telephone three times a week, you have to beg for hot water for tea, the appointment of the necessary postoperative treatment was achieved with great difficulty, and in addition, the dispensary employees illegally use patients as labor.
22	2024	Kemerovo region	Gorlanov Ingvar 2	m	1998	young	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of Novokuznetsk (Kemerovo region), Ingvar Gorlanov is a graduate of an orphanage and activist who previously opposed punitive psychiatry in orphanages, as well as for the rights of orphans who cannot receive the apartments they are entitled to after leaving the orphanage. On December 27, 2019, Ingvar went to the building of the Presidential Administration of Russia in Moscow for a picket in defense of political prisoners. He was detained and taken to the police station, where, according to him, psychiatrists were called. One of the doctors punched him hard in the jaw and under the ribs, after which he was injected intramuscularly with some kind of drug, after which Gorlanov did not remember anything. Gorlanov was taken from the police station to a psychiatric hospital named after Gannushkin, where they tied him to the bed. On December 30, the Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow ordered to prescribe compulsory treatment – although Gorlanov had never applied to psychiatrists before and was not registered as a psychiatric patient. Before the court session, Gorlanov received an injection of a neuroleptic, so he could not remember how the trial took place, or even where it took place (according to Gorlanov, the trial took place in the hospital itself, however, according to the documents, it took place in the courthouse). According to one of the acquaintances who visited Gorlanov in the hospital, "he has changed dramatically: his will was completely suppressed, he had a detached, distracted look, experienced a memory loos, the inability to recall any details, a complete lack of emotions, alienation. Speech was very slow." Soon Gorlanov was transferred from the hospital named after Gannushkin to the Kemerovo psychiatric hospital, and a week later he was sent from there to the Novokuznetsk psychiatric hospital. At the end of January 2021, he was released. On May 28, on appeal, the Moscow City Court declared Gorlanov's placement in a mental hospital illegal. Ingvar has not stopped engaging in political activism. In particular, he published negative reviews about law enforcement officers in his Telegram channels "Seized by the State" and "Gorlanov". For example, he talked about his experience of interacting with police officers who tried to send him to a psychiatric hospital. For this activity, he was placed under administrative arrest twice in March 2022: once for 5, once for 15 days — on charges of inciting hatred towards police officers (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code). On March 6, 2023, Gorlanov's name appeared in the Rosfinmonitoring list of persons involved in extremist and terrorist activities. As it turned out, the reason was the criminal case initiated against him on the re-initiation of social hatred against judges and police officers (part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, Ingvar in his publications in the Telegram criticized the judges and called the police officers rats. As part of the criminal case, Ingvar was assigned a compulsory inpatient psychological and psychiatric examination, and from March 29 to May 2, 2023, he was again in a psychiatric hospital. As lawyer Alexey Pryanishnikov, who represents Gorlanov's interests (he also defends Alexander Gabyshev), said on this occasion, "Once you get there, it's very difficult to get away from the psychiatric hospital”. On August 29, 2023, Gorlanov's case, involving charges of inciting hatred (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a police officer (Article 319 of the Criminal Code), was submitted to the Novoilinsky District Court in Novokuznetsk. On February 4, 2024, it became known that Gorlanov was once again detained in Novokuznetsk. The date and details of the detention are unknown. Lawyer Priyanshnikov only reported that Ingvar was detained in one of the shopping centers in the city and immediately taken by the police to the Novokuznetsk Psychiatric Hospital, where he had been undergoing compulsory evaluation for a month earlier. In addition, the lawyer stated that the hospital had filed a lawsuit with the court for the involuntary hospitalization of Gorlanov. In early March 2024, Gorlanov was still in the hospital, and during this month, his attending physician violated Gorlanov's rights: he refused to submit his appeal complaint to the court and prohibited calls to friends and his lawyer. On April 24, 2024, the Novoilinsky District Court of Novokuznetsk imposed compulsory medical measures on Gorlanov.
23	2023	Irkutsk region	Mikheev Dmitry Sergeyevich	m	2001	young	yes	yes	no	no	Dmitry Mikheev, born in 2001, a resident of Bratsk (Irkutsk region), worked as a sound engineer at the Bratsk television and radio company before his arrest. In January 2023, Dmitry was detained on suspicion of setting fire to a military enlistment office in Bratsk. The night before, someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail through the office window. The fire was extinguished before it could spread, and no one was harmed. Initially, Mikheev was charged with intentional destruction of property, but the charges were later reclassified to more serious offenses. Mikheev was subjected to a forensic psychiatric examination, after which he spent six months in Irkutsk Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. In April 2024, he also underwent a forensic psychiatric examination at the Serbsky Center in Moscow. On January 29, 2025, the Second Eastern District Military Court in Chita found Dmitry guilty of committing an act of terrorism (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code), training for terrorist activities (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code), and high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code), sentencing him to eighteen years in a high-security penal colony.
24	2023	Voronezh region	Vegan Khristolyub Bozhiy	m	1983	x	yes	yes	yes	no	Khristolyub Vegan (before changing his name - Dmitry Kuznetsov; Khristolyub, the first name, means Lover of Christ, and Bozhiy, the patronymic, means the son the God) - born in 1983, resident of Voronezh, internet preacher, pacifist. Before the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, Khristolyub (then Dmitry) maintained several video blogs preaching Christianity and pacifism. Vegan is a consistent opponent of Nazism, nationalism, and any form of violence. In 2022, he openly opposed the invasion. On January 23, 2023, he was searched in connection with charges of insulting the feelings of believers (part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and rehabilitating Nazism (part "v" of part 2 and part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code). The charges were brought against Khristolyub due to two videos posted on his YouTube channel. The videos indeed contained strongly negative and even offensive statements: the first concerning soldiers of the Soviet army who committed war crimes, and the second regarding one of the surahs of the Quran. However, in both cases, he did not make any calls to action prohibited by law but merely expressed his emotional attitude toward the subjects under discussion. Vegan acknowledged creating and posting the videos but refused to admit guilt in violating any laws. At the investigator’s request, Khristolyub was subjected to an inpatient forensic psychological and psychiatric evaluation (without a prior outpatient evaluation). From February 1 to February 28, 2023, he was held in the Voronezh Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Dispensary, in the 10th ward, which he himself described as a "prison within a madhouse." He complained about poor conditions: a dilapidated building, broken plumbing, and heavy cigarette smoke. The wards resembled prison cells, with barred windows, metal doors, and open toilets. Patient labor was used in the ward, the food was scarce and unhealthy, there were no walks, and he was effectively denied communication with the outside world (he was only allowed to call his father twice). During 26 of the 28 days he spent there, he was neither diagnosed nor treated. The evaluation itself was conducted only in the last two days. The expert report dated February 28, 2023, stated that Vegan "suffered at the time of the alleged offense and continues to suffer from a mental disorder in the form of schizotypal disorder (ICD-10 code F21)." Furthermore, it claimed that his "pathological disturbances in mental activity are so pronounced that, at the time of the alleged offense, he was unable to fully comprehend the actual nature and societal danger of his actions or control them (which does not preclude criminal responsibility)." The experts recommended compulsory outpatient psychiatric treatment, asserting that the diagnosed disorder "poses a danger to him or others, or the risk of causing other significant harm." As Khristolyub ironically explained, the experts based these conclusions on the fact that they classified as "illusory perceptions and the formation of overvalued ideas" his statement that God appeared to him in 2009—essentially equating religious belief and preaching with a mental disorder. On February 5, 2025, the Voronezh Regional Court sentenced Vegan to three years in a penal settlement, imposed compulsory outpatient psychiatric supervision and treatment, and prohibited him from administering websites for four years following the completion of his main sentence.
25	2023	Bryansk region	Chibisov Kirill	m	2005	young	yes	no	no	no	Kirill Chibisov, born in 2005, formely a resident of Karachev, Bryansk region. On February 5, 2023, Kirill staged a solo protest in support of Alexei Navalny. Five minutes later, he was detained by the police. During a search at his home, Kirill began recording the events on his phone. The police officers knocked the phone out of his hands and forced him to sign a consent form for voluntary hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital, threatening to open a treason case against him. Kirill spent 13 days in the Bryansk children's psychiatric hospital without receiving any treatment. He had only one conversation with the head of the hospital's department, but it was not of a medical nature; instead, the doctor simply insulted Ukrainians and Americans and praised the Russian government. On March 30, 2023, Kirill was fined 10,000 rubles after being found guilty of violating part 1 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. On April 15, 2024, Kirill again staged a solo protest with a sign reading "No to War! No to Putin!" He was detained, and a case was opened against him for repeated violation of the rules for holding a public event (part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). However, the court dismissed the charges, ruling that no notification of the authorities was necessary for a solo protest. Kirill saw this as a miracle and quickly left the country. He is currently in a refugee camp in the Netherlands.
26	2023	Tyumen region	Anonymous schooler	m	2008	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	An anonymous schooler, a 9th-grade student born in 2008, and a resident of Tobolsk (Tyumen region). The underage teenager, whose name is not disclosed, expressed anti-war sentiments on the internet. His father was serving in Ukraine as part of the Russian armed forces and had come home on leave on the eve of the official Russian Army holiday. According to the investigation, on February 23, 2023, the evening of this holiday, the teenager took a Molotov cocktail, a lighter, and headed towards the military enlistment office with the intention of setting it on fire. However, he was detained on the way by FSB officers. He was charged with preparing an act of terrorism (Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and placed in pre-trial detention, and later under house arrest. In April 2023, the Tobolsk City Court sent the school student for forensic psychiatric evaluation to the psychoneurological hospital "Vinzyli" until May 22, 2023. His mother tried to appeal this decision. On September 15, 2023, Judge I.M. Stasyuk of the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg found the minor guilty but released him from criminal responsibility. The teenager was declared mentally incompetent and sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment in a specialized institution.
27	2023	Tver region	Kolin Sergey	m	1995	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Sergey Kolin is a resident of Tver, a controversial video blogger known for conducting extreme live streams where he and others engage in dangerous or humiliating actions. After the full-scale invasion into Ukraine began, he started sharing news and expressing support for Ukraine in his blog. In April 2022, Kolin was arrested in the settlement of Pogoreloye Gorodishche. According to information from one of his future cellmates, Sergey was forced into the trunk of a car after his arrest. He was charged with attempting to participate in an illegal armed formation or preparation for it (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code with the application of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). According to the investigation, Kolin planned to join the "Free Russia" legion and participate in armed actions on the side of Ukraine. He was sent for a forensic psychiatric evaluation. On March 16, 2023, Judge V.A. Khudyakov of the Zubtsov District Court of the Tver Region declared Kolin mentally incompetent, exempting him from criminal liability, and ordered his placement in a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment.
28	2023	Moscow region	Lypkan Maxim	m	2005	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Maxim Lypkan, born in 2005 and originally from Moscow but residing in Odintsovo, Moscow region, is a civil and anti-war activist. In 2022, he completed school and was preparing to enroll in the law faculty. From the age of 16, Maxim actively participated in public life, attending events organized by the "Yabloko" party, joining protests in support of arrested opposition figure Alexei Navalny, and participating in a moral support rally near the court during the liquidation of the "Memorial" society. After the full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Maxim took a sharply critical position. In the summer of 2022, he initiated the laying of flowers at the Moscow monument to victims of Stalinist repression in memory of the Ukrainians who died. Participants were detained, and Maxim, who was not yet 18, was sent to a special detention center for minors for 13 days. In February 2023, immediately after turning 18, Maxim applied for permission to hold an anti-war rally on Lubyanka Square, intending to name it "Year of Hell." In an interview with Radio "Svoboda" during those days, Maxim explained his choice of the rally location, stating, "Since the FSB has long been a symbol of violence, cruelty, war, and crimes, it would be symbolic and bold to hold such a rally on Lubyanka Square near the executioners' building." Predictably, the authorities did not permit the rally. Maxim tried to challenge this ban in court but lost. The day after this failure, on February 14, 2023, Maxim was detained. Protocols were drawn up against him on two administrative charges: discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) and organizing an unauthorized event (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code). He was released later. However, on February 21, after searches in Maxim's and his relatives' and acquaintances' apartments, he was arrested and charged with spreading false information about the Russian army (Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code - "Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces"). In pretrial detention, Maxim faced psychological and physical pressure from fellow inmates. From July to August 2023, Maxim underwent forensic psychiatric evaluation at the Serbsky Institute. In October 2023, Maxim's case reached the Odintsovo City Court in the Moscow region, and on October 30, Judge D.A. Venev ordered his placement in the psychiatric hospital No. 2 named after V.I. Yakovenko in Chekhov (Moscow region) for six months. On February 19, 2024, Judge Dmitry Aleksandrovich Venev of the Odintsovo City Court in the Moscow Region terminated the criminal case against Lypkan due to "legal incompetence at the time of the offense" and ordered compulsory inpatient medical treatment. The Memorial Center recognized Maxim Lypkan as a political prisoner.
29	2023	Dagestan	Magdiyev Shamil	m	1982	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	Shamil Magdiyev, born in 1982, a resident of the village of Tidib in Dagestan, a father of three children. In December 2022, a criminal case was initiated against Magdiyev for illegal acquisition and possession of weapons (Article 222 of the Criminal Code). Following the consideration of the case, the court ordered him to undergo compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. However, while he was in the hospital, another case was brought against him under Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"). He was accused of sharing a video message in Vkontakte social media titled "To the Imams and Preachers of the Fraternal Peoples of the Caucasus, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan," in which the Crimean mufti, Aider Rustemov, addresses Russian Muslims, opposing the war and urging resistance against Russian authorities. On July 27, 2023, the Shamilsky District Court in Dagestan ruled that Magdiyev, due to his actions, is not fit to be held accountable, poses a danger to others, and therefore should be placed under compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. The court decision stated that forensic psychiatric evaluation had concluded that he "suffers from a chronic mental disorder in the form of organic personality and behavior disorder associated with mixed disorders with pronounced mental disturbances (F07.80 according to ICD-10). The existing mental disorders in Magdiyev S.K. are significantly expressed and deprived him, during the period related to the incriminated actions, of the ability to be aware of his actions and control them." At the same time, the same verdict mentioned that before facing criminal prosecution, Magdiyev had been diagnosed with only moderate psychoorganic syndrome with psychotic features.
30	2023	Moscow	Moskalyov Victor	m	1972	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	Victor Moskalyov, born in 1972, a resident of Moscow, has been the project leader in the Center for Scientific and Technical Initiatives in the field of "Energy Storage Technologies" at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) since February 2022. Prior to this, he served as the Director of Marketing at Enerz, a company specializing in lithium-ion batteries. On April 9, 2022, Victor left two comments on the website www.e-xecutive.ru—a business community for middle and senior-level managers. In the comments, he stated that Russian forces destroyed Mariupol, shelled Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv, killed civilians, stole televisions, raped, and killed Ukrainian girls. On March 28, 2023, a search was conducted at Moskalyov's home, and on the same day, FSB officers detained him at his workplace. He was arrested on charges of spreading "fake news" about the Russian army based on hatred or enmity (part "d" of Article 207.3, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code). Victor refuses to admit his guilt. On June 16, 2023, the Babushkinsky District Court in Moscow began hearing Moskalyov's case on its merits. Based on a previous psychiatric evaluation, Victor was declared legally incompetent and placed in a psychiatric hospital. According to lawyer Mikhail Biryukov, Moskalyov does have "mental peculiarities," but there is no need for inpatient treatment, so the defense insists on outpatient care. Memorial Center considers Moskalyov a political prisoner.
31	2023	Saratov region	Nepein Oleg	m	1955	middle	yes	yes	yes	yes	Oleg Nepein, born in 1955, lived in the village of Khoperskoye in the Balashov district of the Saratov region. He was a municipal deputy, cultivated fruit tree saplings for sale, married, and had a minor child. In early 2021, Nepein participated in the creation of a local problem-solving group called "Balashov Community." The organizers submitted information about the community to the Ministry of Justice, after which law enforcement began demanding that Nepein disclose the personal data of its participants. For refusing to provide the data, Nepein was fined. Shortly after this incident, the activist expressed fears of criminal prosecution for his actions. Oleg was a member of the Telegram chat "Saratov-Engels," where issues of these two cities were discussed. In April 2022, pro-war, anti-Ukrainian messages appeared in the chat. Moskalev, a supporter of direct democracy with a habit of independently seeking information, also married to a citizen of Ukraine, could not stay silent. He wrote several messages about the losses of the Russian army, bombings of civilian cities, and crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Bucha. On December 1, 2022, Nepein's home was searched, and computers and phones were confiscated. He was charged with spreading "fake news" about the Russian army due to social hatred towards government officials (part "d" of Article 207.3, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code). On May 18, 2023, Oleg was arrested. In June 2023, Nepein was sent for a forensic psychiatric evaluation to the Holy Sophia Hospital. On September 21, 2023, Judge Yelena Shelomentseva of the Balashov District Court in the Saratov region found Nepein guilty but released him from criminal resposibility. Based on the results of the forensic psychiatric evaluation, the judge declared Nepein legally incompetent and sent him for compulsory psychiatric treatment to the Holy Sophia Hospital. Memorial Center considers Oleg Nepein a political prisoner.
32	2023	St. Petersburg	Petrova Victoria	f	1994	young	yes	yes	yes	no	Victoria Petrova, a 28-year-old resident of St. Petersburg and a manager in a small company, became involved in anti-war demonstrations following the commencement of the full-scale invasion into Ukraine in 2022. On March 23, a post critical of the war, accompanied by anti-war videos featuring Russian opposition figures and Ukrainian journalists and politicians, appeared in her Vkontakte social media account. Despite her relatively small account network of around 300 friends and subscribers in a city with millions, the post was deleted by the social media on March 25, seemingly at the behest of the prosecutor's office. Within the two days it was online, the prosecutor's office discovered the post and contacted the Investigative Committee. In April, a criminal case was initiated, and on May 6, Petrova's residence was searched. She was subsequently arrested on charges of spreading false information about the Russian army motivated by political hatred and enmity (under Article 207.3, Part 2, Clause "e" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). By the end of August 2022, the case had reached the courts. Despite admitting authorship of the post, Petrova refused to acknowledge guilt, maintaining that she considered the information to be true, thus challenging the accusation of disseminating deliberately false information. In early 2023, lawyer Anastasia Pilipenko learned that Petrova's cellmates had submitted a denunciation against her, claiming she was conducting anti-war propaganda within her cell. The pre-trial detention center presented this information to the court, giving it a pseudo-medical veneer (in reality, it was merely a paper recounting the denunciations). In April 2023, an outpatient psychiatric evaluation took place, with specialists visiting the pre-trial detention center once but refusing to provide an opinion without information about Petrova's prior life and medical history. Despite medical certificates confirming her being mentally healthy, Petrova was sent for an inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation in May, spending over a month in the City Psychiatric Hospital No. 6. The conclusion of the evaluation stated that she was actually legally incapacitated due to her inability to exercise her rights. The evaluation allegedly violated procedural rules, with doctors recording her words with significant distortions. Petrova's uncle, who had supported her since her arrest, was appointed as her guardian but couldn't attend all meetings due to work commitments (from a procedural point of view, this is not necessary). Exploiting this, the court assigned her a guardian—an employee of the municipal government of the Grazhdanka district. On October 24, 2023, the appointed guardian petitioned to have Victoria placed in a psychiatric hospital, and the court granted the request. She was subsequently placed in City Psychiatric Hospital No. 3, named after Skvortsov-Stepanov. On November 15, 2023, lawyer Pilipenko reported that Petrova was being mistreated in the hospital. Allegedly, she faced threats of physical harm, was physically restrained, injected with potent medications rendering her unable to speak, forced to undress in the presence of men, denied the request to change her sanitary pad, and treated with ridicule. Following public outrage, Petrova was moved to a separate ward, and the use of violence and tranquilizers ceased. With the introduction of a psychiatric element in the case, court hearings were subsequently conducted behind closed doors, and since November - directly in the psychiatric hospital. On December 25, 2023, the court acquitted Petrova of criminal liability, imposing compulsory medical measures in a general-type inpatient facility. The Memorial Center officially recognized Victoria as a political prisoner. In May 2024, the hospital's medical commission determined that Victoria could be transferred to outpatient treatment. On July 22, the Kalininsky District Court granted the doctors' request, and on August 12, Petrova was discharged from the psychiatric hospital.
33	2023	Moscow	Rodina Elena	f	1965	middle	yes	yes	yes	yes	A resident of Moscow, born in Sevastopol, Elena Rodina is a lawyer, anti-war and opposition activist, and blogger. In her Telegram channel and Instragram, Elena published anti-war and anti-government posts, which were noticed by the staff of the Center for Combating Extremism. According to law enforcement agencies, calls for resistance to military mobilization in her posts were aimed at "humiliating the dignity of a person and a group of persons," as well as "inciting hatred and hostile actions" against the president and senior officials. In February 2023, Rodina was fined under the administrative article on incitement to hatred (Article 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code). However, already in March, for the same posts in social networks, a criminal case was initiated against her on public calls to terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The Tverskoy Court of Moscow sent her under arrest to pre-trial detention center No. 6. On July 17, 2023, the 2nd Western District Military Court dismissed the criminal case against Rodina and ordered to send her to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment. This became known from Elena's letters to human rights defenders, including OVD-Info. In the letters, she asked to pay attention to her case: "They want to make me a "vegetable", stab me with drugs in a mental hospital. Perhaps these are my last letters in a bright memory and a firm mind”. Rodina was placed in Psychiatric Hospital No. 2 named after Yakovenko in the settlement of Meshcherskoye (Moscow Region), and in February 2025, she was transferred to Psychiatric Hospital No. 5 in the city of Chekhov (Moscow Region).
34	2023	Moscow region	Semerenko Maria	f	1985	x	yes	yes	yes	yes	Maria Semerenko, born in 1985 and residing in the city of Korolyov, Moscow region, is a graduate of the S.G. Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry and worked as a designer. After the full-scale invasion into Ukraine began, Maria regularly posted anti-war content on social media platforms such as Vkontakte and Instagram. Her posts included petitions and reshared information about the progress of the war and crimes committed by the Russian army. On October 26, 2022, Maria was arrested on charges of disseminating false information about the Russian army (Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code - "Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces"). A forensic psychiatric evaluation was appointed for her. On April 13, 2023, Judge D.I. Ganus of the Korolyov City Court decided to place Semerenko under compulsory psychiatric treatment. She was then admitted to a general-type psychiatric hospital in the city of Chekhov, Moscow region. The Memorial Center recognized Maria as a political prisoner.
35	2023	Dagestan	Gashimova Ulkyar	f	1999	young	yes	yes	no	no	Ulkyar Gashimova, a 23-year-old activist and blogger from Derbent (Dagestan), was a student at a music school. In 2022, she was expelled from the music school for refusing to attend lessons under the "Critical Conversations" program. Ulkyar maintained an Instagram blog where she addressed social issues and voiced opposition to the war in Ukraine. On May 5, 2023, Gashimova was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport while attempting to fly to Belgrade to meet her fiancé, whom she planned to marry. She was initially arrested for 10 days under charge of disobedience to authority while crossing the border (Article 18.7 of the Administrative Code), and later she got additional 15 days under charge of disobedience to the police (Part 1 of Article 19.3 of the Administrative Code). After serving the second arrest, Ulkyar was transported to Dagestan, where the FSB officers confiscated her documents. She was prohibited to communicate with human rights activists and her acquaintances. In Makhachkala, a case was initiated against Gashimova under charges of incitement to extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and public incitement to terrorist activities (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). She was held in the pre-trial detention center No.1 in Makhachkala. In letters to her fiancé, Ulkyar recounted that the investigator had repeatedly threatened her with compulsory psychiatric treatment. In November 2023, Ulkyar underwent an inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation at Volgograd Psychiatric Hospital No. 2. The expert report stated that she exhibited signs of a mental disorder "in the form of a histrionic personality disorder," which did not reach the degree of severe psychosis and allowed her to understand the nature of her actions. Ulkyar's mother, Gulnara Alekberova, reported that her daughter became aggressive after her stay in the hospital. In April 2024, Gashimova's case was transferred to the Southern District Military Court. In letters to her mother, Ulkyar complained of intimidation and violence by the investigator. Among other things, according to Ulkyar, he threatened to send her for another psychiatric evaluation. On October 7, 2024, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Gashimova to four and a half years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of incitement to terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and extremism (Part 2, Article 280 of the Criminal Code).
36	2023	Tyumen region	Paklin Roman	m	1997	young	yes	yes	yes	no	A resident of Surgut (Tyumen region), Roman Paklin is a mechanical technician, anarchist, anti-fascist and co-founder of the libertarian library "Burevestnik". In September 2022, Roman was detained on charges of participating in a terrorist organization of anarchists. Together with him, five more people from Tyumen, Surgut and Yekaterinburg were detained. All the detainees knew each other, held similar views, and were interested in leftist literature. They were accused of creating a terrorist community with the aim of attacking military enlistment offices and police departments and sabotage on the railways, along which Russian echelons with military equipment were traveling to Ukraine. According to the anarchists, they all gave confessions under torture: they were beaten, strangled, poured water on their faces, tortured with electric shocks, and threatened with sexual violence. According to the investigation, Paklin held "secret meetings and conversations," and was also a co-author of a certain "manifesto of an anarchist." He was charged with participation in a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code) and preparation for a terrorist act (part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). In November 2022, it became known that Roman was not receiving proper medical care in the pre-trial detention center. After the torture and beatings, he had problems with blood pressure, vision, mobility of his left arm was impaired, reactions slowed down. The administration of the pre-trial detention center ignored Paklin's complaints for a long time, and when they finally began to provide him with medical care, it turned out that the pills provided to him even worsened his condition. In April 2023, Roman was sent to the Yekaterinburg Regional Psychiatric Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. On August 2, 2023, the Central District Court of Tyumen ordered to transfer Paklin from the pre-trial detention center to the Lebedevsky branch of the Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital. The reason for it was an earlier evaluation results. In April 2024, it became known that Paklin was declared legally incompetent by this court decision. He got the diagnosis of a schizophrenia-like disorder. Roman's mother became his legal representative, supporting her son's decision not to enter into a pre-trial agreement. His case was separated into a separate procedure and "put on hold." In February 2025, information emerged that Roman’s support group referred to his diagnosed schizophrenia-like disorder as “acquired.” Additionally, the investigation concluded that the treatment course he underwent at the Lebedev Psychiatric Hospital in the Tyumen region had led to an improvement in his condition. Another forensic psychiatric evaluation was conducted, and Paklin was declared mentally fit. He was transferred from the hospital to Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 in Yekaterinburg, and court proceedings resumed. On February 17, 2025, the first hearing in Paklin’s case took place at the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg. He is now charged under four articles: organizing and participating in a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code), preparation of a terrorist act (Point “a” of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code, in conjunction with Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code), unlawful manufacture of explosive devices (Part 3 of Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code), and their storage (Part 4 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code).
37	2023	Nizhny Novgorod region	Volsky Alexey	m	2002	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Alexey Volsky, born in 2002 and residing in Nizhny Novgorod, has a second-degree disability diagnosed with schizophrenia. In April 2022, Alexey posted in his VKontakte social media account, expressing opposition to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, accusing Russian invaders and the Russian government of causing the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and destruction. On July 13, 2023, Volsky was arrested and placed under house arrest on charges of spreading "fakes" about the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and inciting extremism online (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code). In September 2023, it became known that experts conducting a psychiatric evaluation of Volsky recommended his compulsory treatment. On November 3, 2023, Volsky's case was transferred to the Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, with the charge being reclassified to spreading knowingly false information about the Russian army due to political hatred (Part "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Alexey's mother fears her son's compulsory inpatient treatment, as he becomes mentally foggy after stays in psychiatric clinics, whereas under normal circumstances, he takes pills and attempts to lead an independent life. On December 22, 2023, the court sent Volsky for compulsory psychiatric hospitalisation as a preventive measure. Memorial Center considers Alexey Volsky a political prisoner. On May 14, 2024, Judge S.L. Glushkov of the Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod acquitted Alexei of criminal liability, declared him legally incompetent, and ordered him to undergo involuntary treatment at a specialized psychiatric hospital.
38	2023	Oryol region	Davydov Mikhail	m	1974	x	yes	no	yes	yes	Mikhail Davydov, a 49-year-old resident of the Oryol region, reportedly a supporter of the banned opposition movement "Artpodgotovka" in Russia. On August 24, 2022, an unknown individual threw two Molotov cocktails into the building of the administration of the Oryol region. The fire was quickly extinguished, and a staff member of the administration suffered minor injuries. On August 31, Davydov was detained on charges of attempted murder by a generally dangerous method (Part 3 of Article 30, Part "e" of Article 105, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code). It is known that in March 2023, the court, as a preventive measure, extended Davydov's confinement not in pretrial detention but in a psychiatric hospital, likely for the purpose of conducting a forensic psychiatric evaluation. The duration of his stay and the conditions are unknown. In June 2023, the case was transferred to the 2nd Western Military District Court, now classified as an "act of terrorism" (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code). On August 1, Judge O.A. Belousov declared Davydov mentally incompetent and ordered him to undergo compulsory psychiatric treatment.
39	2023	Moscow	Kirsanov Sergey	m	1955	middle	yes	no	yes	yes	Sergey Kirsanov, born in 1955 and residing in Moscow, was accused of participating in the "Left Resistance" movement, created in 2017 by opposition activist Darya Polyudova. The group organized peaceful pickets with human rights and opposition slogans but was deemed an extremist organization. Since November 2021, Kirsanov had been under a travel restriction due to charges under Part 2 of Article 282.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (Participation in an extremist community). Kirsanov's lawyer, Tatiana Solomina, insists that his involvement in the organization is not proven by the investigation. On October 10, 2023, Judge Anatoly Belyakov of the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow declared Kirsanov mentally incompetent, exempted him from criminal liability, and ordered an indefinite compulsory psychiatric treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
40	2023	Moscow	Morugina Polina	f	1997	young	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of Moscow, tattoo model and blogger; she is known on the Internet under the pseudonym Polina-Face. In January 2022, Morugina was accused of public desecration of objects of religious veneration (Part 2 of Article 5.26 of the Administrative Code) - she published her nude photo against the background of the Church of the Intercession in Fili (Moscow). After that, Polina deleted the photo and her social media accounts. However, the law enforcement agencies did not limit themselves to it, and an investigation was launched against Morugina under the article of the Criminal Code on insulting the feelings of believers (part 1 of Article 148 of the Criminal Code). On February 20, 2023, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow ruled that Polina "suffered from schizotypal personality disorder, so she could not realize the nature of her actions at the time of the photo shoot," and sent her to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
41	2023	Moscow region	Shendakov Mikhail	m	1965	middle	yes	no	yes	yes	Mikhail Shendakov is a colonel of the reserve, video blogger, nationalist and opposition activist from the Moscow region. Earlier, Shendakov was repeatedly brought to administrative and criminal responsibility for his oppositional and nationalist statements in a video blog, including those containing calls for violence motivated by national hatred, as well as violence against law enforcement officials and officials. In February 2023, Shendakov was arrested due to the fact that his suspended sentence was replaced with a real imprisonment. A psychological and psychiatric examination soon followed, which revealed Shendakov's "persistent delusional ideas" and the need for compulsory psychiatric treatment. Most probably, one of the main reasons for the persecution of the colonel was a video in which he told an anecdote about an employee of the Rosgvardiya (one of the law enforcement agencies carrying out the forceful suppression of protests in Russia), and called on doctors to act in the same way as described in the anecdote: “The surgeon speaks to the Rosgvardiya patient after the operation: — Your balls have already been removed, everything is fine! — What are you talking about??? I had appendicitis! — Well, I also told you that I was going home, not to the rally”. On June 15, 2023, the Krasnogorsk City Court (Moscow Region) ordered to send Mikhail to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment.
42	2023	Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra	Vatrya Artem	m	1994	young	yes	no	yes	yes	Artem Vatrya, born in 1994, a resident of the city of Lyantor in the Surgut district of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, married with two children, is a driver and a Muslim. On the eve of Victory Day in 2018, OMON (Special Purpose Mobility Unit) officers conducted raids against Muslims in Lyantor, arbitrarily detaining dozens of people, beating and humiliating them. Artem Vatrya was detained at his home, beaten, and taken to the police station. Some individuals subjected to arrest reportedly underwent torture. Artem initiated an information campaign to draw public attention to these events and seek punishment for the law enforcement officers. The Investigative Committee refused to initiate a criminal case. On April 1, 2020, Artem Vatrya, along with two other Muslims, Gamid Datev and Bekhrus Ganiev, who fought against this abuse, were arrested and charged with possession of weapons (Part 3 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and explosives (Part 3 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and manufacturing explosive substances (Part 3 of Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). On December 17, 2020, a new criminal case on creating a terrorist community (Part 1 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) was initiated against Datev, and against Vatrya and Ganiev, a case on participating in a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, they were all accused of preparing an act of terrorism (Part 1 of Article 30 Part "a" Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation claimed that Datev, Ganiev, and Vatrya allegedly planned to blow up a mosque in Lyantor and kill its imam. Memorial Center, recognizing all three defendants as political prisoners, reported numerous procedural violations and direct falsifications in the case materials. Since September 2021, the case has been under consideration in the Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg.On October 5, 2023, based on a psychiatric evaluation conducted in August-September, the court declared Artem Vatrya legally incompetent and ordered him to undergo compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. His wife was appointed as his guardian.
43	2023	Chelyabinsk region	Voronovsky Maxim	m	1995	young	yes	no	yes	yes	Maxim Voronovsky, a resident of Magnitogorsk (Chelyabinsk region), is a law student and activist of the public movement "StopHam" (combating traffic violations and illegal parking). Maxim attracted the attention of the security forces in 2021, when he posted the personal data of one of the employees of the Center for Combating Extremism in the chat of Alexei Navalny's supporters. Maxim was then detained, he was forced to apologize on camera, and a video with his apology was posted on Twitter by one of the well-known propagandists. On March 31, 2022, Maxim ended up in a pre-trial detention center on suspicion of justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case was initiated because of a comment on a photo published on the Internet by anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who had blown himself up in the FSB Directorate for the Arkhangelsk Region a few years earlier. In the comment, Zhlobitsky was called a hero (Voronovsky himself denies that he wrote this comment). On February 22, 2023, the visiting panel of judges of the Central District Military Court of Yekaterinburg ordered to place Voronovsky for indefinite compulsory treatment in a specialized psychiatric institution. The extension or termination of compulsory treatment should take place by the decision of a medical commission, which meets every six months. In April 2022, Rosfinmonitoring put Voronovsky on the Federal List of extremists and terrorists. According to the information available at the time of writing this text, Maxim has only one relative left — his 82-year-old grandmother.
44	2023	Leningrad region	Malakhov Vyacheslav Igorevich	m	1985	x	yes	yes	no	no	Vyacheslav Malakhov - born in 1985, a native of Ukraine, and a resident of St. Petersburg. He is a poet, political activist, and the author of the popular online community "Pre-Revolutionary Advisor." Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Malakhov has taken an anti-war stance and openly expressed it on his Facebook and Vkontakte pages while remaining in Russia. In July 2023, Malakhov attempted to get off the train at a stop between St. Petersburg and Moscow, but the conductors did not allow him to do so. A conflict ensued, during which Vyacheslav pulled the emergency brake. As a result, he was detained and spent a day at the police station in Tosno, Leningrad Region. After a day, the police announced their intention to release him but first planned to take him to the hospital for examination "to ensure that we didn't beat you here at the station, otherwise you might claim somewhere that we mutilated you." He was taken to a psychiatric hospital in the village of Ulyanovka, where under threats of violence he was forced to consent to hospitalization. Vyacheslav was forcibly tied to a bed, resulting in a broken rib. He remained in the hospital for 21 days, during which he was injected with unknown drugs, forced to swallow pills, denied access to his phone, and refused treatment for a wound on his arm sustained during hospitalization. His medical records upon discharge stated that he "entered the hospital actively hallucinating in an agitated condition, leading to the decision for compulsory hospitalization." Malakhov sought help from the human rights organization "Team Against Torture." Attempts to bring criminal charges for involuntary hospitalization yielded no results. Shortly after his discharge, it was revealed that an administrative case had been initiated against Malakhov for discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) due to his anti-war posts on VKontakte. On August 10, the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow fined him 30,000 rubles. Interestingly, the posts attributed to him date back to May 26, while the expert examination revealing signs of an offense was ordered as early as April 4. Soon after, Malakhov moved to Moscow, where he was detained again on January 31, 2024, in connection with a criminal case for repeated defamation of the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) due to an anti-war post in a Telegram channel. On February 2, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow remanded Vyacheslav to pre-trial detention. On October 24, 2024, the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow sentenced Malakhov to two years in a general-regime penal colony.
45	2023	Tatarstan	Yasonova Elina	f		young	yes	yes	no	no	Elina Yasonova, a resident of Kazan, a political opposition activist. In 2022, Yasonova was detained in connection with an anti-mobilization rally and fined 10,000 rubles under the article on organizing mass simultaneous stay or movement (Art. 20.2.2 of the Administrative Code). In the same year, she was fined 30,000 rubles under the article on discrediting the army (Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for a picket with a sign saying "Putin is the only threat to Russia," and a search was conducted at her place. In November 2023 and January 2024, statements by Elina about multiple cases of forced hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital appeared on the internet. According to these reports, back in 2013, her cousin Artem Prokofiev, a State Duma deputy from the Communist Party and Vladimir Putin's supporter, using his connections, arranged for her hospitalization at the Bekhterev Psychiatric Hospital in Kazan and registration with psychiatric services. According to Yasonova, since then, she has been repeatedly hospitalized by ambulance during any family conflict, despite independent medical examinations that did not confirm a psychiatric diagnosis.
46	2023	Leningrad region	Alimardanova Momagul	f		middle	yes	yes	no	no	Momagul Alimardanova is a resident of the settlement of Siversky in the Gatchinsky district of the Leningrad region, and the wife of Alexander Pravdin, a retired psychiatrist, currently a local entrepreneur and opposition activist. Pravdin is known for placing posters and installations with various opposition and anti-war messages in Siversky over the past years and engaging in solo pickets. In July 2022, he displayed a placard saying "Russians, you are not human beings" during a picket and was detained by the police. His wife, Momagul Alimardanova, followed her husband to the police station where he was taken. Versions of what happened there differ: the police claim that Momagul caused a scandal and pushed a female police officer down the stairs, after which she was handcuffed. Pravdin, on the other hand, recounts that Momagul refused to leave the station after a protocol was drawn up against him, out of fear that something might happen to him, after which they "splashed tear gas right into her eyes," six people knocked her to the floor, and handcuffs were put on her. A criminal case was initiated against Alimardanova for the use of violence against a law enforcement officer (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code), and she spent two days in the Temporary Detention Center (IVS) before being released on travel restrictions. On September 14, 2023, Momagul was sent for forensic psychiatric evaluation to Psychiatric Hospital No. 6. On September 25, her husband reported that she had been placed in the so-called monitoring ward, where men and women who need constant supervision are kept together, and she is not allowed to go for walks. Soon after this information became public, Alimardanova was transferred to a regular ward. On October 8, Pravdin visited his wife in the hospital and noticed a blue mark on her neck, as after an attempted strangulation. Hospital staff refused to provide explanations. Momagul remained in the hospital for a month.
47	2023	Moscow region	Bakhtin Alexander	m	1971	x	no	yes	yes	no	Alexander Bakhtin was born in 1971, he is a resident of Mytishchi (Moscow region) and an environmental activist. On March 2, 2023, Alexander was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on charges of spreading "fakes" about the army due to political enmity (part "d" of Article 207.3, part 2 of the Criminal Code). Three cases were initiated against him for three different posts in the VKontakte social media, which he published in the spring of 2022. Bakhtin wrote about Vladimir Putin's desire to blockade Kiev and the civilian casualties in Ukraine, the killings of Ukrainian animal rights activists and volunteers, as well as the tragedy in Bucha. Later, the cases were consolidated into one proceeding. On August 11, 2023, Judge M.V. Loktionova of the Mytishchi City Court found Bakhtin guilty and sentenced him to 6 years in prison. In addition, the court imposed a 3-year ban on administering websites and mandated compulsory outpatient psychiatric treatment. Presumably, the treatment was prescribed based on the results of a psychiatric evaluation.
48	2023	Leningrad region	Balazeikin Egor	m	2006	young	yes	yes	no	no	Egor Balazeikin is a schoolboy from Otradnoye (Kirovsk district of Leningrad region), a student of the humanitarian gymnasium in St. Petersburg. Yegor's family supported Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his uncle went to war as a volunteer and was soon killed. It was very hard for Yegor to accept the death of his uncle. At the same time, he started to read the news about the war. And soon he began to argue with his parents, proving to them that Russia was doing wrong. On February 28, 2023, Balazeikin was detained in the city of Kirovsk (Leningrad region) for attempting to set a military enlistment office on fire: Molotov cocktail bottles did not break, the building was not damaged. According to Yegor, the FSB officers, who interrogated him, threatened him that he would be beaten and raped in the pre-trial detention center, that they would send him for compulsory psychiatric treatment. "You can do whatever you want, I will not change my position," he replied. He was placed in a pre-trial detention center. At first, Yegor was accused of intentionally destroying or damaging property (Article 167 of the Criminal Code), but then, after interrogations by investigators, who, according to relatives, skillfully brought him to the right wording, the article was changed to an attempt to commit a terrorist act (part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code and Article 30 of the Criminal Code). In addition to the attempted arson of the military enlistment office in Kirovsk, the fact of which Egor does not deny, he is charged with two more episodes of arson — in Kirovsk and in St. Petersburg. In June 2023, Balazeikin was sent for mental health assessment to psychiatric hospital No. 6, where he spent several weeks. The conditions of detention in the hospital were acceptable, he was even allowed to see his parents several times. On July 26, 2023, the Kirovsk City Court extended Balazeikin's arrest until the end of August. Balazeikin suffers from autoimmune hepatitis, he needs to constantly take medications and undergo routine medical examinations. Egor's parents support and fight for him. The father was fired from his job — apparently because of the criminal case against Egor. On November 22, 2023, the Second Western District Military Court, during an off-site session in St. Petersburg, sentenced Balazeykin to six years in a juvenile correctional facility.
49	2023	North Ossetia	Kelekhsayeva Teona	f	1991	young	no	yes	yes	no	Teona Kelekhsayeva, a resident of Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia). On May 20, 2022, the Industrial District Court of Vladikavkaz fined Teona 30 thousand rubles for an anti-war video on Instagram. She was accused of discrediting servicemen and the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). On May 23, 2023, the same court found Kelekhsayeva guilty under the criminal article on the repeated discrediting of the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). According to the court, she "carried out public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the SVO" on Instagram and Vkontakte. She was fined 100 thousand rubles and was sentenced to compulsory outpatient treatment by a psychiatrist.
50	2023	Tver region	Kudryashov Ivan	m	1996	young	yes	yes	no	no	A resident of Tver, Ivan Kudryashov is a loader, opposition and anti-war activist, and vegan. Ivan participated in protest actions in Tver and Moscow, also in support of Navalny, was once detained and fined. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he took an anti-war position, held an artistic action, the authorship of which he later acknowledged: he removed official propaganda posters from billboards, wrote "Fuck the war" on the reverse side and hung them back with the propaganda side inside. On September 30, Kudryashov was detained on charges of preparing to set fire to the military enlistment office. During the search, two molotov cocktails were seized from him, while his fingerprints were not found on the bottles, and he himself confessed under torture with electric shocks and the threat of sexual violence. While in the Tver pre-trial detention center-1, Ivan, a vegan for moral and ethical reasons, faced difficulties: the administration did not give him parcels with vegan food and ignored his complaints. On June 8, 2023, Kudryashov went on a hunger strike. On June 20, 2023, the 2nd Western District Military Court of Moscow found Kudryashov guilty of preparing for a terrorist act (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code and Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced him to 6 years in prison. Staying in a pre-trial detention center after the verdict, Ivan held a hunger strike until July 18. Lawyer Maxim Kharchenko, who visited him that day, noted the serious physical condition of the convict, but, as he later said, he did not see any mental issues. On July 27, on the tenth day after leaving the 40-day hunger strike, Kudryashov was suddenly transported to the FSIN regional hospital in Torzhok. Lawyer Kharchenko was able to visit Ivan only on August 2. It turned out that Ivan wound up in a psychiatric ward. The lawyer was neither informed of the diagnosis nor the methods of treatment. At the same time, Kudryashov was tied to the bed and did not respond when spoken to. The escorts told Kharchenko that Ivan had been immobilized due to his violent behavior. Later, it became known that forged letters were sent on behalf of Ivan Kudryashov, in which "Kudryashov" justified the actions of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) employees who sent him for psychiatric treatment. He purportedly claimed that he’d had a nervous breakdown before the treatment, but felt better after. The handwriting in these letters does not resemble Kudryashov's handwriting. Kudryashov was transferred back to pre-trial detention only in early September 2023. On June 20, 2023, the 2nd Western District Military Court in Moscow sentenced Kudryashov to six years in prison. Later, the Military Appeals Court reduced the sentence to 4.5 years. In September 2024, Ivan was transferred from prison to the psychiatric hospital at Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 1 in Smolensk for unknown reasons. He spent several months in the hospital. According to human rights defenders, he was examined by a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and an ophthalmologist. Unlike his previous stay in the hospital, he was not administered haloperidol but was given sedative medications. In January 2025, Kudryashov was returned to prison. Memorial Center considers Ivan Kudryashov a political prisoner.
51	2023	Ivanovo region	Lyamin Dmitry	m	1991	young	no	yes	yes	no	Dmitry Lyamin is a 31-year-old resident of Shuya (Ivanovo Region). According to the investigation, on March 19, 2022, Lyamin threw a Molotov cocktail into the window of the military enlistment office in Shuya. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the bottle only broke the outer glass, not reaching the inside. He was arrested the next day and charged with attempted damage or destruction of property (Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). In June 2022, Dmitry refused the services of his lawyer Ivan Astashin, possibly under pressure from the investigation. Shortly after, he was sent for a forensic psychiatric evaluation at the V. P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology, and his case was reclassified as an act of terrorism (Part 1 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code). According to the lawyer, Lyamin's position in the case was not known, but judging by the absence of relevant information in published court documents, he did not provide any self-incriminating testimony. On April 12, 2023, Judge M.V. Maksimenko of the 2nd Western Military District Court sentenced Lyamin to eight years in prison and ordered compulsory psychiatric treatment at the place of serving the sentence.
52	2023	Primorsky Krai	Tokhteev Sergey	m	1990	young	yes	yes	no	no	A resident of Vladivostok, Sergey Tokhteev is a musician, anti-war activist, and former volunteer of Navalny's headquarters. In May 2022, Sergey was fined 30 thousand rubles for anti-war posts on the Vkontakte network under an administrative article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). He did not pay the fine, but continued to write anti-war posts on the Internet. In February 2023, five criminal cases were initiated against him under the article on the repeated discrediting of the Russian army (part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), later merged into one. They came to his house with a search, beat him, used a taser and seized all his equipment. He was placed under house arrest. In May 2023, Tokhteev underwent an outpatient psychiatric evaluation, which revealed "signs of a mental disorder" in him. On June 28, the Primorsky Court of Vladivostok granted the request of the investigation to place Sergey in a psychiatric hospital in the city of Ussuriysk (see Gabyshev) for inpatient evaluation. On January 22, 2024, the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok sentenced Sergey to a fine of 120,000 rubles and prohibited him to administer websites for three years.
53	2023	Voronezh region	Tronev Yevgeny	m	1982	x	no	yes	no	no	Yevgeny Tronev is a 41-year-old resident of the village of Verkhny Mamon in the Voronezh region. In April 2022, Judge Anpilogov S.V. of the Pavlovsky District Court of the Voronezh Region fined Tronev 15,000 rubles under an administrative article on discrediting the army (part 1 of article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) due to an anti-war comment in the VKontakte social media. Tronev admitted making the comment but claimed he did not admit guilt as he expressed his civic position regarding Russia's military actions in Ukraine. In November 2022, a criminal case was initiated against Yevgeny for repeated discredit of the Russian army (part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). He was accused of making several reposts in June and July 2022 in a messenger channel where he was an administrator. On May 29, 2023, Judge Boris E. Yu. of the Pavlovsky Court found Tronev guilty, sentenced him to 2 years conditionally with the deprivation of the right to administer websites and chats on the Internet, and prescribed compulsory outpatient psychiatric treatment. At that time, when Tronev published his posts, it was qualified by the Criminal Code as a minor offense, but the verdict was based on categorizing it as a crime of medium severity. On September 7, 2023, Judge Novoseltsev A.N. of the Voronezh Regional Court mitigated Tronev's punishment due to an erroneous qualification of the article of the Criminal Code during the sentencing of the first-instance court. The conditional sentence was replaced with a fine of 100,000 rubles, but compulsory outpatient psychiatric treatment was not revoked.
54	2023	Samara region	Vashchenok Dmitry	m	1980	x	yes	yes	no	no	Dmitry Vashchenok, born in 1980, is a resident of Togliatti (Samara Region) and an employee at AvtoVAZ. After the start of the full-scale invasion into Ukraine, two videos were posted on Vashchenok's social media account: one about the trial in Ukraine of Russian tanker Vadim Shishimaryin and another from the Ukrainian TV channel ICTV, addressing the looting by the Russian military. In August 2022, the Avtozavodsky District Court of Togliatti fined Vashchenok twice, imposing fines of 15,000 and 30,000 rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the Russian army (Art. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). On February 22, 2023, Vashchenok was detained directly at his workplace as a suspect in a criminal case of repeated discredit of the army (Part 1 of Art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code). Later, he was placed under a travel restriction. On April 12, 2023, the Avtozavodsky District Court ruled to send Dmitry for forensic psychiatric evaluation, and he spent a month in a hospital during the summer. On September 22, 2023, the Central District Court of Togliatti considered a lawsuit from the Togliatti Psychoneurological Dispensary demanding involuntary hospitalization of Vashchenok. The invited psychiatrist explained to the court that Dmitry did not need inpatient treatment. Judge Akhtemirova Y.S. denied the claim. On February 15, 2024, the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Tolyatti stopped the criminal prosecution of Vashchenko due to the lack of evidence of a crime.
55	2023	Yaroslavl region	Abramov Sergey Mikhailovich	m	1957	middle	yes	no	no	no	Sergey Abramov - born in 1957, resident of the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky (Yaroslavl region), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), leading Russian specialist in supercomputer systems, 2005-2022 - director of the A.K. Ailamazyan Institute of Software Systems of the RAS. On April 10, 2023, a search was conducted at Abramov's house, he was detained and later placed under house arrest, which was changed to a travel ban six months later. He is accused of financing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the newspaper "Kommersant", the case was initiated because of a donation to Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. Abramov himself denies transferring any money. In November 2023, at the prosecutor's request, Sergey underwent outpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation, which was supposed to determine his sanity at the time of the offense. According to his own words, doctors talked with him for 45 minutes but could not answer the questions posed by the prosecutor. On November 30, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Yaroslavl ruled to send Abramov for evaluation to a psychiatric hospital. Sergey objected, insisting that it was not necessary to admit him to the hospital for a long period to conduct the evaluation, and that he was willing to undergo outpatient evaluation as many times as necessary. Nevertheless, the court insisted on its decision, and on December 18, Sergey went to the Yaroslavl Regional Psychiatric Hospital, where he was declared sane. As he later told journalists, he had no specific complaints about the personnel or the conduct of the evaluation, he was grateful for the relatively quick process (he was discharged from the hospital after only 12 days). However, the conditions of detention described by Sergey, including excessive and unjustified restrictions (prohibition of walks, calls home on weekends), combined with the refusal of the court and the prosecutor's office to conduct the evaluation on an outpatient basis, indicate that it was an act of pressure on him by the investigators. In May 2024, the Pereslavsky District Court of the Yaroslavl Region began the trial.
56	2023	Smolensk region	Anonymous	f		young	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Smolensk, a student at the Smolensk State Medical University, who wished to keep her name a secret. On April 27, 2023, a student who, in her opinion, was illegally evicted from the dormitory, tried to get an appointment with the rector. Apparently, she behaved emotionally and persistently, and the university staff called Rosgvardiya to "calm her down". The staff of the Rosgvardiya refused to take her out of the university building, as she had not committed anything illegal. Then the university called a psychiatric care team, which forcibly took the young woman to the regional psychiatric hospital, where severe drug therapy was applied to her. The medical institution demanded to approve compulsory hospitalization, and on May 3, the Smolensky District Court granted this claim. On July 7, 2023, the student's lawyer successfully challenged this decision in the Smolensk Regional Court. The court, remarkably, with the support of the prosecutor, ruled that there was no evidence of inappropriate behavior of the student in the case materials; eyewitness testimony and procedural documents of law enforcement agencies were not attached.
57	2023	Sverdlovsk region	Budalov Boris	m		young	yes	no	no	no	Boris Budalov is a native of Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk region) and a resident of Yekaterinburg, engaged in computer repair. In early October 2023, the FSB conducted an investigation into Budalov for an undisclosed matter. Additionally, he was arrested twice, for five and seven days, for refusing a medical examination and for using obscene language (according to Boris, the second arrest was retaliation for refusing to cooperate). Upon leaving the detention center after the second arrest, Budalov was detained again, and he faced charges of justifying terrorism online (part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). There is no information about the substance of the charges. On November 24, 2023, it became known that Budalov is undergoing a forensic psychological-psychiatric evaluation at the Sverdlovsk Regional Psychiatric Hospital. On September 26, 2024, the Central District Military Court sentenced Budalov to six years in a general-regime penal colony.
58	2023	Krasnoyarsk region	Yelizar'yeva Yevgeniya 1	f	1972	x	yes	no	no	no	Yevgeniya Yelizar'yeva — born in 1972, a resident of Krasnoyarsk, an environmental activist, and politician. She has repeatedly spoken out against police violence, the waste reform, the construction of a graveyard for the Class 1-2 radioactive waste, and other projects of Rosatom. She regularly participates in legal proceedings and maintains a vibrant and radical style on social media. On September 13, 2023, she was detained, and on September 15, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk considered three cases against her simultaneously: for displaying Nazi symbols (Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code), discrediting the Russian army (Art. 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code), and inciting hatred (Art. 20.3.1 of the Administrative Code) due to 13 posts in social media. For the charge of discrediting, Yelizar'yeva was fined 30,000 rubles, and for the other two, she was punished with administrative arrests for 14 days each. On September 28, 2023, the Berezovsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Krai again placed her under arrest for 14 days, this time for minor hooliganism (Part 2 of Art. 20.1 of the Administrative Code). In September, a criminal case was initiated against her for insulting a representative of the authorities (Art. 319 of the Criminal Code) allegedly due to her use of obscene language towards an investigator. As part of this case, on October 12, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk decided to send her to the Krasnoyarsk Regional Psychoneurological Dispensary No. 1 for an inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation. See also Yelizar'yeva Yevgeniya 2.
59	2023	Tomsk region	Rybakov Leonid Borisovich	m	1969	middle	yes	yes	no	no	Leonid Rybakov - born in 1969, resident of Tomsk, director of a small IT company, and an opposition activist. After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion into Ukraine, Rybakov, who had previously denounced Putin’s policy and participated in public opposition activities, began posting anti-war appeals on his VKontakte social media page, expressing support for Ukraine, also displaying the Ukrainian flag in the window of his apartment, and joining anti-war rallies. In response to these activities, the authorities initiated administrative and criminal prosecution of Leonid for discrediting the Russian army and inciting extremist activities. One of these cases - under the article on repeated discrediting of the Russian army (part 1 of article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) - was initiated in March 2023 for sharp and condemning comments that Leonid left on VKontakte social media under a photograph of Russian General Surovikin in December 2022. Rybakov's home was searched, and law enforcement officers took all his electronic devices. In May 2023, at request of the investigator, the Kirovsky District Court of Tomsk sent Rybakov for inpatient psychiatric evaluation for one month. On March 7, 2024, the first court hearing was held in the Kirovsky District Court on this case. On March 12, 2024, Judge Maria Tynyanaya of the Kirovsky District Court sentenced Rybakov to a two-year suspended prison term. However, on July 11, the Tomsk Regional Court, in an appeal, returned the case materials for further review.
60	2023	Kemerovo region	Baykalov Vladimir Ivanovich	m	1963	middle	no	no	no	no	Vladimir Baykalov - born in 1963, resident of the city of Kemerovo, retired. A former boxer, he worked as the director of a stadium. A Jehovah's Witness. Jehovah's Witnesses are recognized as an extremist organization in Russia, and their activities are prohibited. Dozens of people face persecution simply for belonging to this denomination. Vladimir organized online readings and discussions of the Bible, and he had conversations at home with his wife on religious topics. In February 2022, Baykalov's home was searched. Initially, he was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), later the charge was reclassified to organizing the activities of an extremist community (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). At the request of the investigators, Vladimir underwent psychiatric evaluation twice. During one of them, a doctor exerted strong psychological pressure on him and threatened him with compulsory hospitalization, attempting to coerce a confession. On October 23, 2023, the Zavodsky District Court of Kemerovo sentenced Baykalov to 6 years of probation.
61	2022	Luhansk*	Butkevych Maksym Oleksandrovych	m	1977	x	no	yes	no	no	Maksym Butkevych, born in 1977, is a Ukrainian citizen, renowned human rights defender, and journalist. He is a co-founder of the human rights organization No Borders, which provides assistance to migrants and refugees, and the Human Rights Center ZMINA. He was subjected to an outpatient forensic psychiatric examination under the threat of violence. In February 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Butkevych voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On June 24, 2022, he was captured by Russian military forces at the front line. In March 2023, the so-called “Supreme Court of the Luhansk People’s Republic” convicted Butkevych under Part 3 of Article 30 of the Russian Criminal Code, subparagraphs “a” and “e” of Part 2 of Article 105 ("Attempted murder of two or more persons in a generally dangerous way"), Part 1 of Article 356 ("Use of prohibited means and methods of warfare – cruel treatment of civilians"), and Part 2 of Article 167 ("Intentional destruction or damage to property in a generally dangerous way") of the Russian Criminal Code. He was sentenced to 13 years in a high-security penal colony. The charges against Butkevych were fabricated, and his confession was obtained under the threat of death. On the day of the alleged crime (a grenade launcher shot at civilians), Butkevych was, in fact, on leave at home in Kyiv. On October 18, 2024, Maksym returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange. A psychiatric evaluation of Butkevych was conducted in a prison in Luhansk in August 2022 during the so-called investigation, which involved Russian security forces. In an interview with Zeit following his release, Butkevych described the circumstances of the examination: Butkevych: Behind the psychiatrist sat a masked man who threatened me if the answers didn't suit him. ZEIT: Did the masked man talk to you? Butkevych: Yes. In the end, he made me a proposal: I could agree to everything they wanted me to do as quickly as possible, in which case I would be exchanged in October [referring to 2022]. Or they would return to their former manner of treating me. [Maksym had been subjected to torture and psychological abuse.] I had one condition: If I signed everything quickly, then no one would be guilty except me. And I wouldn’t be made responsible for any deaths. He agreed.
62	2022	Volgograd region	Koshelev Vyacheslav	m		young	yes	yes	yes	no	A resident of the city of Volzhsky (Volgograd region); in addition to Russian, he also has Ukrainian citizenship. On March 26, 2022, Vyacheslav was beaten by unknown people on the street, who did not like his T-shirt with the inscription "30 years of independence of Ukraine". The attackers themselves called the police, and Vyacheslav was arrested. During the arrest, Koshelev allegedly kicked one of the policemen in the leg. Vyacheslav spent the night in the police station, handcuffed, his legs tied, he was beaten with his head against the wall. The next day he was fined for disorderly conduct. On April 17, Koshelev came to the skyrunning competition in high-rise buildings in Volzhsky. He was wearing a cap with the coat of arms of Ukraine and the same T-shirt with the inscription. The police detained him again, accusing him of shouting "obscene slogans" and interfering with the competition. The next day he was fined again for disorderly conduct. But already on April 20, it became known that a criminal case was initiated against Vyacheslav on the use of violence against a representative of the authorities that was not dangerous to life or health (part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code) for allegedly hitting a policeman. On August 5, the Volzhsky City Court declared Koshelev insane at the time of the commission of the crime attributed to him and ordered to place him in a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment. Vyacheslav spent over two years in the Volgograd Regional Psychiatric Hospital and was released in December 2024. The compulsory medical measures were replaced with outpatient monitoring.
63	2022	Nizhny Novgorod region	Onoshkin Alexey	m	1990	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Alexey Onoshkin is a political activist, blogger and priest of the "Temple of the Flying Macaroni Monster", professing Pastafarianism, a parody religion. Lives in Nizhny Novgorod. Onoshkin repeatedly spoke out against the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on his page on the Vkontakte network and participated in anti-war actions. On March 2, 2022, he was detained at one of such actions, and was fined 40 thousand rubles under the article on discrediting the Russian army (part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). On April 28, 2022, he was forcibly taken to the hospital for psychiatric examination. The reason for it was a denunciation in which it was claimed that Onoshkin said in one of his videos that the Russian state was driving him to suicide, as previously his fellow countrywoman, journalist Irina Slavina. At the same time, at the trial, Alexey claimed that he spoke about suicide only figuratively. Alexey was able to leave the hospital only three months later. However, already on August 16, Alexey was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center, now within a criminal case about "fakes" about the Russian army (paragraph "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The reason was the publication on Onoshkin's blog on March 16, 2022, in which he told about the shelling of the drama theater in Mariupol. On October 3, 2022, at the request of the investigation, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod transferred Alexey from the pre-trial detention center to a psychiatric hospital "until the end of the investigation period." Onoshkin's defense did not object this time. On November 7, 2022, another criminal case was initiated against Onoshkin, this time because of several comments on the Internet relating to 2020 and 2021. He was accused of calling for terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). Independent human rights project "Protection of political prisoners. Memorial” reports that in the comments "the leaders of the armed struggle for the separation of Chechnya from Russia were mentioned and, among other things, it was said: "Killing is generally bad, but it is even more disgusting to differentiate murderers into your own and others." All this time Alexey was in a psychiatric hospital. The court repeatedly extended compulsory treatment. On March 9, 2023, during a preliminary hearing, the judge of the 2nd Western Military District Court decided to return Onoshkin's case to the prosecutor's office due to procedural violations. On March 28, 2023, the date of expiration of the period of stay in the hospital indicated by the court, the chief doctor refused to release Onoshkin without direct instructions from the prosecutor, as Onoshkin is charged with "bad articles". On September 15, 2023, the 2nd Western Military District Court in Moscow resumed the consideration of the case, and on October 11, acquitted Onoshkin of criminal liability, imposing compulsory medical measures in a specialized inpatient facility.
64	2022	Moscow region	Trifonova Olga	f	1962	middle	yes	yes	yes	yes	Olga Trifonova, born in 1962, a resident of Odintsovo (Moscow region). After the start of the full-scale invasion into Ukraine, little-visited publications appeared on her VKontakte account and YouTube channel, expressing anti-war sentiments. A video titled "The Massacre in Bucha Happened, and Here's Why" was posted, drawing comparisons between the events in Bucha and a Chechen village, Samashki, in 1995. On September 28, 2022, Trifonova was detained and interrogated. A case was initiated against her for spreading "fake news" about the army, but she was released. On December 21, 2022, the judge T. V. Khamkina from the Odintsovo City Court in the Moscow region issued a ruling applying involuntary psychiatric treatment to Trifonova. In March 2023, the Moscow Regional Court overturned this decision, citing undisclosed reasons, and sent the case for a new judicial review. On April 20, 2023, Judge S.V. Moryakova issued a new ruling imposing involuntary medical measures on Trifonova. The Memorial Center considers Olga Trifonova a political prisoner.
65	2022	Moscow	Zhuravlev Denis	m	1995	young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Denis Zhuravlev, born in 1995 and residing in Moscow, is a lawyer by training with a passion for hitchhiking and aspirations to become a psychoanalyst. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army on February 24, 2022, Denis began sharing posts in social media, particularly in Vkontakte, expressing support for Ukraine. He faced charges under Part 2 of Article 208 ("Participation in an illegal armed group") and Part 2 of Article 282.2 ("Participation in an extremist organization") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, SOTA reported that Denis "wanted to write a letter to Vladimir Zelensky and deliver it through the Ukrainian Embassy." He had a ticket purchased for March 9, 2022, but his plans were disrupted when, on the evening of March 7, the police visited his apartment. This led to his detention and a subsequent 15-day sentence for petty hooliganism on the grounds of alleged swearing in the entrance hall of his building. During the trial, Denis clarified that his intention in Minsk was to deliver a letter to Zelensky at the Ukrainian embassy. Before completing this sentence, the FSB accused him of participating in an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), leading to his transfer to a pre-trial detention center. Later, he faced additional charges of participating in an illegal armed group (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). A psychiatric evaluation concluded that Denis Zhuravlev was mentally incompetent. On August 15, 2022, Judge Andrei Valerievich Bakhvalov of the Ostankino Court in Moscow issued a ruling “on the application of compulsory medical measures to the mentally incompetent”.
66	2022	Moscow region	K. Andrey	m		young	yes	yes	yes	yes	Andrey K. - an opposition activist from Mozhaisk (Moscow region). At least once he was detained by the police for a picket in support of the politician Ilya Yashin, convicted of an anti-war position. On April 9, 2022, he was detained on charges of vandalism motivated by political hatred (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, he poured yellow and blue paint on a poster hanging on one of the administrative buildings with the image of the St. George ribbon in the form of the letter Z and the inscription "We don't leave ours behind." The court chose a restraining measure for Andrey in the form of travel ban and a ban on certain actions. After the psychiatric assessment, the experts recommended compulsory treatment, but did not answer the mandatory questions concerning the reasons for the impossibility of outpatient treatment for Andrey. On April 24, 2023, the magistrate of the 123d judicial precinct in Mozhaisk changed the restraining measure for Andrey and ordered to apply compulsory measures to him in the form of inpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
67	2022	Rostov region	Sivozhelezov Igor	m	1958	middle	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of the village of Vesely (Rostov region), Igor Sivozhelzov is a pensioner, video blogger, and supporter of Russian nationalists, and of the informal movement "Citizens of the USSR". Numerous supporters of this movement consider themselves sovereign citizens of Russia, adhere to the conspiracy theory, according to which the USSR de jure continues to exist as a sovereign state and a subject of international relations. The main topic of Sivozhelezov's videos, available on the Internet at the time of writing this text, are various ways of evading payment of illegal, in his opinion, bills for housing and communal services. In the spring of 2022, Sivozhelezov was accused of publishing videos on the Internet, which, according to the prosecution, contained "calls for a violent change of power and a violent change in the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation." The videos were declared extremist. In April 2022, the Bagaevsky District Court of the Rostov region found Sivozhelezov guilty of public calls to extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code), but stopped the criminal prosecution and sent him to compulsory psychiatric treatment.
68	2022	Nizhny Novgorod region	Korelin Alexey	m	2000	young	yes	yes	no	no	Alexey Korelin is a medical student at Nizhny Novgorod State University. Adheres to left-wing views. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he published articles on the university's website condemning the propaganda that was imposed on students at the university instead of regular classes, and also attended one of the university's online seminars with the flag of Ukraine painted on his face. On June 16, 2022, during a search of his apartment conducted in the absence of Alexey, a computer and other things disappeared, and at the end of the same month a disciplinary commission was convened at the university, where he was reprimanded. On the same day, when Alexey went outside after a session with a psychologist, with whom he discussed his motivation to study, FSB officers approached him, one of whom began to strongly advise him to change the psychologist and contact Professor Lala Narimanovna Kasimova, head of the Department of Psychiatry of the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Institute. Korelin did not listen to this recommendation, and on September 7, FSB officers and a district psychiatrist came to his house. He was offered a choice either to go to a psychiatric hospital voluntarily, having signed a consent for hospitalization, and in this case to come back soon, or to go there, but by a court decision and for at least four months. Alexey succumbed to pressure, signed consent and ended up in the regional psychiatric hospital named after Kashchenko. There he had to endure bullying from other patients (for example, they put excrements in his bed) and from the staff. Professor Kasimova, whom he was so persistently advised by the FSB staff to turn to, held a consultation with him. According to Korelin, she told him that "she was waiting for him to come to her voluntarily, and asked why he didn't come, because law enforcement officers recommended doing it." Because of the prescribed neuroleptics, Alexey's coordination of movements was disrupted, he slept a lot. Fortunately, he had a smartphone and could keep in touch with the outside world, including consulting with a lawyer. After a month of hospitalization, Korelin wrote a statement refusing treatment and was discharged from the hospital on October 11. One of the conditions of discharge was a mandatory visit to a psychiatrist. The equipment seized during the search was returned. No documents were issued that formalized the search. Korelin returned to his studies and stopped conducting public activities.
69	2022	Omsk region	Kruglov Evgeny	m	1976	x	yes	yes	no	no	Evgeny Kruglov, born in 1976 and residing in Omsk, is an archaeologist and photographer. After the full-scale invasion into Ukraine began, Evgeny repeatedly posted anti-war content on the VKontakte social media, sharing others' publications about the crimes of Russian soldiers. On May 6, 2022, FSB and Center for Combating Extremism officers visited Kruglov's apartment, where he lived with his mother. Evgeny was taken to court and found guilty under Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code ("Discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"). He was fined at the lower limit—15,000 rubles, as he was unemployed at the time and caring for his elderly mother. In July 2022, when Kruglov was at archaeological excavations site in the forest in the Tyumen region, FSB and Center for Combating Extremism officers detained him for questioning on a criminal case related to spreading "fake news" about the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). He was released under a travel restriction. On August 11, a court ordered Kruglov to undergo inpatient forensic psychiatric evaluation, and on August 16, he was placed in the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital named after N.N. Solodnikov. The ground for this decision was a depressive episode Evgeny experienced at the age of 18. The expert's conclusion stated that while Kruglov does not exhibit signs of any mental disorder, there are indications of schizophrenia in remission. In September 2022, after leaving the hospital, Evgeny bought a ticket to Minsk and attempted to leave Russia. He was detained by FSB officers along the way. On October 22, the district court changed Kruglov's preventive measure to pretrial detention. On December 12, 2022, Judge Oksana Kolosova of the Omsk District Court sentenced Kruglov to eight months of corrective labor, later reduced to two months after crediting the time he spent in pretrial detention.
70	2022	Altai Krai	Ponomarenko Maria	f	1978	x	yes	yes	no	no	A resident of Barnaul, Maria Ponomarenko is a journalist and political activist. While living in Barnaul, Maria participated in opposition manifestations, wrote for the RusNews website, ran her own Telegram channel, drew public attention to the problems of orphans and corruption. Even before the start of the war, she was brought to court several times under administrative articles for single pickets. In March 2022, a repost of a message about the shelling of the theater in Mariupol appeared in Ponomarenko's Telegram channel "There is no Censorship", containing accusations against Russian troops. In April, she was detained in St. Petersburg, where she had moved shortly before, having separated from her husband due to domestic violence. She was charged under the article on "fakes" about the Russian armed forces motivated by political hatred (Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), she was transferred to Barnaul and placed in a pre-trial detention center. In June 2022, Maria spent a month in the Altai Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital for evaluation. At the hospital, according to Maria, she was injected with some unknown sedatives after she had demanded to provide her with hygiene products, and when she tried to resist, she was forcibly detained by FSIN officers. On February 15, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Barnaul sentenced Ponomarenko to 6 years in prison and 5 years of a ban on journalistic activity. After the verdict was delivered, the detention center staff demanded that Maria undress during a search. She expressed her outrage, and in response, the staff used force against her and sent her to a psychiatric hospital, where she spent three days. Ponomarenko reported that she was beaten while in the hospital.
71	2022	Krasnodar Krai	Grigorieva Irina	f	1968	middle	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Krasnodar, Irina Grigorieva is a lawyer and activist of the International public Movement "Public Control of Law and Order". Grigorieva represented the interests of Krasnodar residents in the courts, and also recorded public trials on video and posted them on her channel. According to Irina Ivanova, the chairwoman of the Public Control of Law and Order movement, Grigorieva's activities "irritated judges and prosecutors." On October 26, 2021, Irina was summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning in the case of defamation of a judge (part 1 of Article 298 of the Criminal Code). She was detained, and two days later she was forcibly hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital under the pretext that she allegedly "may pose a danger to herself and others." In December, due to compulsory mental health assessment the decision was appealed and Grigorieva was released. In September 2022, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar ordered to send Grigorieva for psychiatric re-assessment. Irina challenged this decision, but on November 17, even before the complaint was considered, she was forcibly taken from her home to the hospital, her 74-year-old mother was beaten. According to Grigorieva, the re-assessment was carried out with serious violations, practically in torture conditions (the activist was handcuffed), without mandatory documentation of the methodology and registration of the assessment process. Irina unsuccessfully tried to challenge the results of the assessment in court. In December 2022, it became known that a guardian had been appointed to Grigorieva. By law, the appointment of a guardian to a person occurs only after he or she is declared incapacitated, but at the time of writing this report, nothing was known about such a decision. As Irina told the journalists of the “Caucasian Knot” media resource, "they decided to convict me under the article "Slander" against a judge, and under this article one can get a fine, not a prison term. But fine is not enough for them, they need to isolate me from helping people. For this purpose, a mental hospital was needed and a "guardian", who cannot open her mouth to explain to me what her guardianship is about, and is silent all the time, she refuses to communicate with me. Their next goal is to convict me under Article 298 of the Criminal Code and, since I am recognized by local psychiatrists as "mentally ill", to send me to compulsory treatment <...> I am of course afraid. I am a human being."
72	2022	Kaliningrad region	Nedvetskaya Olga Dmitrievna 1	f	1963	middle	yes	yes	no	no	Olga Nedvetskaya, born in 1963 and residing in Kaliningrad, is originally from Belarus. Trained as a theater director, she is now retired. Since 2013, Nedvetskaya has been a member of the precinct election commission and has participated in opposition rallies. In 2021, she was fined 10,000 rubles for participating in a rally in support of Alexei Navalny. Olga encountered forced hospitalization to a psychiatric hospital for the first time in 2022. On March 13, she was detained on the central square of the city, where opposition-minded residents periodically gathered. On that day, Olga sang several Ukrainian songs. She was initially charged with petty hooliganism but was later taken by ambulance to Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. The reason given was that she allegedly used foul language. Nedvetskaya spent a month in the hospital, but it is unknown on what grounds she was there and how this hospitalization proceeded. In March 2024, Olga was working at the presidential elections as a member of the precinct election commission. On the evening of March 16, the second day of the three-day elections, Nedvetskaya was detained and put into an unmarked car outside the electoral commission office. She recognized the individuals who detained her as employees of the Center for Combating Extremism. Olga was taken to the same psychiatric hospital where she was two years ago. She managed to inform her relatives about this over the phone before the connection was cut off. According to her, the detention and forced hospitalization were intended to prevent her participation in the final day of the elections. In the hospital, Olga's phone was confiscated, but calls were made from it without her knowledge. Lawyer Roman Morozov was initially denied access to her; he was not allowed into the hospital for two days, citing a nonexistent terrorist threat. On March 21, a court hearing took place on the premises of the hospital. Judge I.S. Kuzovleva of the Leningrad District Court of Kaliningrad decreed the involuntary hospitalization of Nedvetskaya in a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period. According to lawyer Morozov, the decision relied upon a medical assessment composed by a panel of physicians consisting of doctors Berdnikov, Kulagin, and A.A. Abramova (the latter being the deputy chief physician for medical affairs). The lawyer noted that the conclusion did not contain any research component; it did not specify the diagnosis, treatment methods, or treatment plan. Additionally, the court refused to examine Nedvetskaya's medical documents provided by the defense. Furthermore, according to Morozov, the already written court's decision was seen in the judge's document folder even before the decision was made.
73	2021	Primorsky Krai	Gabyshev Alexander	m	1968	middle	yes	no	yes	yes	The case of Alexander Gabyshev has become the most famous in the country, and it clearly demonstrates the political abuse of psychiatry in today’s Russia. Alexander Gabyshev was born in 1968 in Yakutsk, a Yakut by nationality, a historian by education, although for ideological reasons he worked his whole life as a simple worker. In the early noughties, Gabyshev began to study shamanism, still practiced in remote places of Yakutia. In the summer of 2018, Gabyshev set out on a cross-country trek to Moscow with the goal of peacefully expelling President Vladimir Putin from power by performing a shamanic ritual on Red Square. According to Gabyshev, Putin is a demon that nature does not like. Where he appears, cataclysms subsequently occur — in this way nature cleanses itself of his influence. Only a shaman can cope with a demon. Gabyshev calls himself a shaman-warrior, he considers his task to restore democracy and harmony in the country. The first pilgrimage to Red Square ended very soon – Gabyshev's dog got hit by a car and needed treatment. In the spring of 2019, Gabyshev started a new march to Moscow. He was walking along the side of the highway with a cart loaded with necessary things, including a yurt. Gabyshev's march to Moscow raised a wave of interest – both in the media and social networks, and on the ground, dozens of people began to join him on the way. In the cities, where the "shaman" appeared, rallies spontaneously gathered, at which Gabyshev made political statements. As Gabyshev outlined his plans, he intended to act exclusively by peaceful methods: to expel Putin, he would light a bonfire on Red Square, right in front of the Kremlin wall. According to Yakut traditions, he would pour koumiss into the fire and throw horsehair in it, he would knock on a leather tambourine and pray, after which Putin will come to his senses and calmly resign. As Gabyshev stated, "democracy should be without fear. Now people are afraid to talk, they are afraid that they will be fired, deprived of salaries. It's just that our state power is lawless, demonic." In September 2019, Gabyshev was detained by the police at the border with the Irkutsk region and was sent back to Yakutsk. There he underwent a psychiatric assessment and was recognized mentally ill (October 2019). At the same time, as Gabyshev's lawyer Olga Timofeeva pointed out, no criminal charges were brought against him at that time. In December 2019, Gabyshev started his journey to Moscow again. Two days later, he was detained (10 of his supporters were detained too) and charged with disobeying police officers. Later, Gabyshev's lawyer filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights on the illegality of his detention and violation of the right to a fair trial. On May 12, 2020, Gabyshev was again deprived of liberty — he was detained in his own house, after which he was forcibly hospitalized in the Yakut Republican Neuropsychiatric clinic. Employees of the psychiatric ambulance and at least 20 employees of the Rosgvardiya participated in his detention. Despite the fact that the law requires a court decision on compulsory hospitalization no later than in 48 hours, the decision was made only three weeks later. The court justified its decision by "the overestimating (by Gabyshev) his personality." The then Mayor of Yakutsk Sardana Avksentieva, Vice-speaker of the State Assembly of Yakutia Viktor Gubarev and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from Yakutia Fedot Tumusov criticized Gabyshev's forced hospitalization. At the same time, Gabyshev was recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Center. Gabyshev was released in July 2020. During the two months of hospitalization, Gabyshev was never allowed to leave the building for a walk. On January 27, 2021, Gabyshev was again forcibly detained at his home and sent to the Yakut Republican Neuropsychiatric Clinic. A few days before that, Gabyshev had announced the resumption of his march to Moscow. More than 50 employees of Rosgvardiya participated in the storming of his house. As one of them reported at the trial, the issue of Gabyshev's murder during detention was also considered. He said that they had a permission to kill Gabyshev, but they decided not to do it themselves, because Gabyshev was "gifted and public." On January 29, 2021, several cultural figures issued an appeal in which they demanded the release of Gabyshev. They noted that you could treat Gabyshev's decision to go to Moscow as you like, but freedom of movement for Russian citizens had not been canceled. The authors of the letter appealed to "everyone who could help Gabyshev's release and draw attention to the resumption of the practice of political abuse of psychiatry." The appeal was signed by 19 people, among whom the Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich, writer Alexander Gelman, poet Lev Rubinstein, film critic Anton Dolin, actress Elena Koreneva, politician Lev Shlosberg and others. In February, the court granted the claim of the doctors of the Neuropsychiatric Clinic about the forced hospitalization of Gabyshev. Justifying its claim, the clinic pointed out that Gabyshev "began to make loud statements in the media again." Later, a criminal case was initiated on the "use of violence against a representative of the authorities" (during the detention of Gabyshev), and thus the case passed from administrative jurisdiction to criminal. According to the charge under Article 318 of the Criminal Code, when detained in his house, Gabyshev wounded an employee of the Rosgvardiya with a homemade cold weapon (a ritual shaman's sword; the material evidence are the trousers of an employee of the Rosgvardiya, torn by a sharp object. There were also traces of blood in the house, but no examination took place to determine whose blood it was). At the same time, Gabyshev was charged under Article 280 of the Criminal Code ("calls for extremist activity"). In March, a forensic psychological and psychiatric assessment commission at the same Yakut neuropsychiatric clinic found Gabyshev insane in relation to the charges. Unlike previous hospitalizations, in 2021, Gabyshev was “treated” with large doses of neuroleptics. A relative who visited him on April 2 reported that Gabyshev, after hospitalization, complained of insomnia and frequent loss of consciousness. During one of the visits, he began to tremble so violently that the orderlies had to carry him in their arms to the ward. The relative also reported that Gabyshev had a short haircut, contrary to his will and to the Yakut religious tradition. In June, Gabyshev's sister said that Gabyshev's phone was "lost" in the psychiatric clinic – while that was the only way to contact him (due to the pandemic, visits were not allowed). After his sister brought him a new phone, she was able to talk to Gabyshev. He said that he was not even allowed to go for a walk, and the phone could only be used once a week. At the same time, the doses of neuroleptics were increased: in the first conversation, Gabyshev said that he was being given a "double dose". He constantly complained of weakness, dizziness and drowsiness. During the court session on July 8, Gabyshev became ill, he was dizzy and had a strong tremor, an ambulance was called to the courthouse, which stated a sharp drop in blood pressure. The court session was postponed. On July 26, a meeting of the Yakutsk City Court was held, which declared Gabyshev insane and ordered to send him to a psychiatric hospital with intensive supervision for compulsory treatment (STIN, the modern name of psychiatric prisons, which in the USSR were used to imprison dissidents). The court also ordered to detain Gabyshev before delivery to the STIN, he was handcuffed and sent to the Yakutsk pre-trial detention center. After that Gabyshev was sent to the STIN of the city of Novosibirsk. In February 2022, the Zaeltsovsky District Court of Novosibirsk softened Gabyshev's regime of compulsory treatment from STIN to a hospital of a special type. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital in the city of Ussuriysk. In December 2022, lawyer Alexey Pryanishnikov, representing the interests of Gabyshev, reported that he could not go out for walks because they refused to give him a down jacket and winter shoes. According to Pryanishnikov, Alexander was "in a kind of robe three sizes bigger and in completely ugly bots, from which he fell out." According to the lawyer's description, Gabyshev "had a very painful appearance: pale, very reddened eyes, he lost weight." In June 2023, the Ussuriysky District Court of Primorsky Krai ordered to transfer Gabyshev to a milder type of treatment in the Yakut neuropsychiatric clinic. Lawyer Pryanishnikov noted that Alexander was declared insane in Yakutsk, where he was "treated" with haloperidol. However, on June 28, the Primorsky Regional Court overturned the decision to mitigate the regime. After a year and a half of legal ordeals, on December 25, 2024, the Ussuri District Court once again ordered Gabyshev to be transferred to a less restrictive regime in a general-type inpatient facility, but in February 2025, this decision was once again overturned by the Primorsky Regional Court.
74	2021	Moscow	Kuzmina Olga	f	1978	x	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of Moscow, Olga Kuzmina is an eco-activist. She opposed the cutting down trees and renovation activities near Babushkinsky Park. On August 9, 2021, she held a protest against the renovation activities and felling trees carried out as part of the renovation program near Babushkinsky Park in Moscow. She climbed a tree and tied herself to it at a height of 20 meters from the ground. At the same time, she was holding a crossbow in her hands to protect herself if she would be forcibly removed from the tree. Later, Kuzmina's defense will prove that the crossbow was faulty, and it was impossible to shoot from it. 10 hours later, the police, wearing bulletproof vests and covering themselves with shields, climbed up a tree on the fire escape and removed Olga from the tree. She was detained. On August 10, the Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow found her guilty of failing to comply with the requirements of the police (part 1 of Article 19.3 of the Administrative Code) and left her under arrest for several days. According to the prosecution, she "violated the legal requirements of police officers by <...> climbing a tree to a height that threatened her life and those around her, holding in her hands an object similar to a crossbow with a loaded arrow and aimed at her chest." In addition, a criminal case was initiated against Olga on hooliganism committed by prior conspiracy with the use of weapons (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code). She was placed under house arrest. On October 11, the Babushkinsky district court ordered to forcibly send Kuzmina to a psychiatric hospital for mental health assessment for up to 30 days. This decision was later challenged by Kuzmina's defense in the Moscow City Court, but to no avail. According to Katerina Tertukhina, Kuzmina's lawyer from the OVD-Info human rights organization, neither at the first nor at the second trial did the investigation provide any clearer justification for hospitalization than an indication of "the ambiguity of the clinical picture." On this occasion, an appeal was sent to the Moscow City Court on behalf of the Moscow Helsinki Group, which stated that the principle of proportionality and protection from arbitrariness was not observed in the Kuzmina case: "It is worth noting that experts do not mention any suspicions of specific mental disorders that could be checked during an inpatient examination; they do not indicate a possible existence of diagnoses that would indicate the potential incapacity of the accused. The presence of some peculiarities of behavior does not necessarily indicate the presence of mental disorders, and even more so is not an unconditional suspicion of incapacity." On May 31, 2022, Olga came to the Losinoostrovsky district police station with Sergey Telnov, a lawyer from OVD-Info, to participate in investigative actions. The police detained her and forcibly brought her to the psychiatric hospital of the V. P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center of Psychiatry and Narcology for examination – not inpatient, but outpatient. Kuzmina stated in writing that she refused to interact with doctors, but despite this, neither she nor the lawyer could leave the hospital building for some time. On June 23, the Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow granted the request of the investigation to place Kuzmina in a Yakovenko psychiatric hospital (Chekhov district, Moscow region) for conducting a forensic psychiatric examination. And already on July 1, 2022, before the expiration of the ten-day period during which it was possible to appeal against the court decision on compulsory hospitalization, the police came to the apartment where Olga had been serving house arrest for several months. They broke down the door and forcibly took Olga to the Yakovenko Hospital. In the hospital, Kuzmina had difficulty eating and sleeping: she was not provided with bedding and dietary nutrition. At the same time, compliance with the diet and daily routine is critically important for her health, since she has several chronic diagnoses, in particular, grade 4 lymphedema. A few days later, Olga was released from the hospital and returned to house arrest. In the medical report, according to OVD-Info, the doctors indicated that Kuzmina suffered from schizotypal personality disorder, posed an increased danger to society and could not be aware of the "actual nature of her actions." She was also credited with "waywardness, mainly oppositional, negative behavior, a tendency to litigiousness and protest reactions, a tendency not to disclose personally significant experiences." Kuzmina's defense challenged the legality of hospitalization in the Moscow City Court, but again to no avail. On August 4, 2023, the Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow released Kuzmina from criminal liability and ordered to send her to a psychiatric clinic for compulsory treatment.
75	2021	Irkutsk region	Nadein Dmitry	m	1974	x	yes	no	yes	no	Dmitry Nadein, a programmer, and resident of Irkutsk was arrested for a comment on the social network VKontakte on 4 February 2021. In his comment, Nadein reacted to a terrorist attack that took place in 2018 in the FSB building in Arkhangelsk, committed by a 17-year-old terrorist. In response to another participant in the chat, Nadein wrote: “All of your buildings should be destroyed down to the last brick”. On that basis, a criminal case was opened up against him under Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code (“public justification of terrorism”), and Nadein was arrested. A forensic psychiatric examination conducted in an investigative-isolation prison in Irkutsk found Nadein unfit to stand trial, with a diagnosis of “schizophrenia”. In June, Nadein was transported to Khabarovsk in secret from his relatives and lawyers to a hearing at a military tribunal (which has jurisdiction over cases under Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code). Later, it was determined that Nadein was transported by mistake, since the tribunal’s hearing was supposed to be on-site and should have taken place in Irkutsk. On July 19, 2021, the First Eastern District Military Court sent Nadein for involuntary treatment at or an in-patient psychiatric hospital under intensive observation (STIN). In March 2024, Dmitry Nadein was transferred to outpatient treatment. He was discharged from the hospital but was required to visit a psychiatrist every month. Additionally, he was placed under police supervision.
76	2021	Sverdlovsk region	Nogovitsyn Ivan	m	1997	young	yes	no	yes	yes	A civil activist from Yekaterinburg, Ivan Nogovitsyn, was arrested for participating in protests against the construction of a church of the Russian Orthodox Church on the site of a popular park on the embankment near the Drama Theater (as a result of the protests, construction was stopped). Nogovitsyn was accused of calling for mass riots (Article 212.2 of the Criminal Code). Ivan was arrested in March 2020 and placed in the pre-trial detention center-1 in Yekaterinburg, where he was injected with neuroleptics for protesting against the actions of the administration. According to him, he "could have refused, but agreed because they threatened to tie him to the bed." In March 2021, Nogovitsyn was sent for inpatient forensic psychiatric examination. According to lawyer Roman Kachanov, the practice of using psychotropic substances against prisoners of the pre-trial detention center-1 in Yekaterinburg is used very often. Kachanov describes a case when a prisoner after an injection of neuroleptics began to show hyperactivity and could not sleep, after which he was tied to the bed for longer than 24 hours. At the request of the prisoner, one of the cellmates untied him so that he could go to the toilet, after which they were both punished and tied to the beds. In November 2021, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg declared Nogovitsyn insane, released him from criminal liability and ordered to send him to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. The process took place behind closed doors.
77	2021	Rostov region	Selitsky Mikhail	m	1994	young	no	no	yes	no	A resident of Rostov-on-Don, Mikhail Selitsky is a pianist at the conservatory. After the protests in January 2021 related to the arrest of Alexei Navalny, Mikhail joined several open and closed opposition groups in Telegram. Several members of one of these groups met face-to-face and discussed the current political agenda and plans for protest actions, agitation, and support for political prisoners. In March 2021, someone who called himself a former military man joined the chat. He offered to buy weapons, engage in telephone terrorism, and promised support from a certain PMC. Shortly after that, four chat participants, including Selitsky, were detained by the FSB on charges of intending to commit direct actions: throwing paint and Molotov cocktails at government buildings and putting offensive inscriptions on them. Under pressure from the security forces, who threatened Mikhail and other detainees with violence and prison, he agreed to record a confession on camera. As a result, the detainees were only charged with vandalism motivated by political hostility (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). They were charged with graffiti on the walls of residential buildings in Rostov-on-Don. In particular, it was about the inscription "Putin is a thief!" Selitsky was assigned an examination in a neuropsychiatric dispensary of the Rostov region, as a result of which he was found unable to independently exercise the right to defence and not fully aware of his actions. On October 24, 2022, the world Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Selitsky to one and a half years of restriction of freedom (travel ban) and compulsory outpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital. In August 2023, the court of appeal overturned the verdict against Selitsky and ordered the case to be remanded for reconsideration by the court of first instance. In October 2023, the magistrate of Judicial Sector No. 9 of the Voroshilovsky District of Rostov-on-Don terminated the criminal case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
78	2021	Tatarstan	Sharafutdinov Marat	m	1991	young	yes	no	yes	no	A resident of Tatarstan, Marat Sharafutdinov is an activist of the Bashkir national movement and defender of Shikhan Kushtau — a small mountain in the Ishimbay district of Bashkortostan. At the beginning of 2018, local authorities decided to allow one of the soda companies to develop Shikhan Kushtau, which immediately caused protests from residents, eco-activists and activists of the Bashkir national movement. The defenders of Shikhan set up a tent camp on the mountain. After numerous cases of detentions and police pressure, activists unexpectedly achieved the desired result: in 2020, Shikhan was recognized as a natural monument of national significance. However, the activists themselves continued to have problems. In particular, in January 2021, several activists were detained in connection with charges of attempted hooliganism with the use of weapons (Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code with the application of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and illegal acquisition or possession of weapons (part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code). It was about a domestic conflict in the Bashkir village of Karmaskaly in November 2020, during which mass clashes almost occurred. Among the detainees was Marat Sharafutdinov, who, according to him, was away on a job at the time of the conflict. Marat's relatives said that the weapon was tossed during the search. Many of the Kushtau activists and Bashkir national figures from the Bashkort organization suggest that the conflict could have been a provocation of the special services aimed at revenge on activists and discrediting the Bashkir national movement. Sharafutdinov spent more than six months in a pre-detention center, where he was subjected to psychological pressure, and according to some reports, he was also beaten. On August 18, 2021, the Ordzhonikidze court of Ufa ordered to send Marat for compulsory treatment to the republican clinical psychiatric hospital in Basilevka (a suburb of Ufa) for a period of six months. After this period, the hospital appealed to the court with a request to continue the compulsory hospitalization of Sharafutdinov, but on February 2, 2022, the Kalininsky District Court of Ufa dismissed this claim and Marat was released. Relatives announced the collection of money for the restoration of his health. As Sharafutdinov's brother told reporters, "My brother's condition is not very good right now. He doesn't sleep at night, hardly eats, shivers, perhaps this are the consequences of the drugs that were injected into him in the hospital. We are not talking to him yet about what happened while he was in jail, but he has a constant headache, no tooth..." Later, the charges were reclassified, and on November 19, 2024, Judge Eduard Urazbakhtin of the Karmaskalinsky Interdistrict Court in Bashkortostan sentenced Marat to nine years in a penal colony. He was convicted of preparing to commit hooliganism motivated by national hatred (Part 1 of Article 30, Part 2 of Article 213 of the Russian Criminal Code) and organizing the activities of the organization Bashkort, recognized as extremist (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code).
79	2021	Perm krai	Novoselov Andrei	m	1978	x	yes	no	no	no	An activist of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Andrei Novoselov from Perm Territory was sent for an in-patient psychiatric evaluation on 10 June 2021. Novoselov was accused of “disrespect of the court” (Art. 297 of the Criminal Code). The grounds for the charge were Novoselov’s statement at a Territory court in which he complained about actions by court bailiffs in collecting a fine from him. Previously in 2018, Novoselov had been fined by decision of the Chaikovsky City Court for “public demonstration of Nazi symbolism” (in fact, this was a post on social networks of scenes from a Soviet serial devoted to the times of World War II, portraying actors in uniform who were playing Nazis). In 2019, the Perm Territory Court pronounced the complaint regarding the actions of the bailiffs to be lawful but left the decision of the Chaikovsky Court in force. In turn, Judge Irina Konovalova of the Chaikovsky court submitted a request to open a criminal case against Novoselov, since she found evidence of “disrespect to the court” (Art. 297); in his complaint, Novoselov claimed that Konovalova had poor knowledge of the law and the Russian language). Police brought Novoselov to the forensic psychiatry department of the psychiatric hospital with a high temperature, and for three days Novoselov maintained a hunger strike, demanding medical assistance. It is not known how long he remained as an in-patient.
80	2021	Altai krai	Saveliev Yuri	m	1954	middle	yes	no	no	no	Yuri Saveliev is a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses Church, which has been declared an "extremist organization" in the Russian Federation since 2017 and is banned. Yuri Saveliev, 66, who lived in Novosibirsk, was arrested in 2018 on charges of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). In December 2020, the court sentenced Savelyev to six years in a strict regime colony, In its statement, the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses regarded Savelyev's sentence as "absurd". Jarrod Lopez, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses, also said the verdict "contradicted international human rights norms." Saveliev served his term in colony No. 5 in the Altai krai. In early August, 2021, the head of the colony invited him to sign an empty application form with a request for treatment, which Savelyev refused, as he felt quite healthy. Nevertheless, on August 24, he was transferred to the Medical Correctional Institution No. 1 (MCI) in the city of Barnaul. This is a colony that is specially designed for the compulsory treatment of prisoners from alcoholism and drug addiction. Upon arrival there, Savelyev's notebooks with personal notes and the Bible were taken away. During Saveliev's stay at the MCI, they repeatedly tried to get him to agree to treatment, but he refused to sign the form. No medical measures were applied to him. In October 2021, he was transferred back to the colony. On July 19, 2023, Saveliev was released, having fully served his sentence.
81	2020	St. Petersburg	Kovalenko Alexander	m	1952	middle	no	no	yes	no	In August 2020, the 1st Western District Military Court sent Alexander Kovalenko, 68, a pensioner from St. Petersburg for involuntary treatment. Kovalenko was charged with “public justification of terrorism” (Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The pretext for the prosecution was Kovalenko’s post on the social network Vkontakte where he approved the terrorist attack on the FSB building in Arkhangelsk (see the case of Dmitry Nadein). In particular, Kovalenko had called the terrorist “a hero of the new Russia” and thanked him for his “self-sacrifice”. All of seven people had subscribed to Kovalenko’s account on Vkontakte, and the criminal post received 158 views (including those of the search system robots); it had one “like”. Given that Kovalenko suffers from cancer, the military court ordered ambulatory involuntary treatment for him – otherwise, Kovalenko would not have been able to receive treatment in a cancer clinic.
82	2020	Rostov region	Mikhailov Roman	m	1976	x	yes	no	no	no	Roman Mikhailov - born in 1976, lived in Kavalersky settlement (Rostov region). In 2016, he received one and a half years for a family conflict under the article on threat of murder (Part 2 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), serving his sentence in Correctional Colony No. 2 in Rostov-on-Don, where he became an informant for one of the Federal Penitentiary Service employees and recorded a video about corruption in the colony, which was later posted online by his wife. This led to the arrests of several employees of the Rostov Central Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service. In 2019, while visiting a relative, he got into a fight with a neighbor, was arrested, and sentenced to two years under the same article (threat of murder). Roman was very afraid of being sent to the Rostov prison because he believed he would be targeted. On April 13, 2020, immediately after the verdict, he was sent to the interregional tuberculosis hospital No. 19 (MOTB-19), to the psychiatric department. It later became known that the day before his transfer to the hospital, instructions were given to the orderlies to apply certain measures to Mikhailov: long-term tethering to the bed, forced administration of drugs, beatings. The hospital administration issued orders not to untie Mikhailov, and psychiatrists recorded false information in his medical record (for example, the duration of Mikhailov’s physical restraint). On June 24, 2020, Roman died from sepsis. He spent about 70 days in a tethered position, developing a huge bedsores on his back, which turned into phlegmon. After Mikhailov's death, and in response to appeals from human rights defenders from the Interregional Fund "Center for Legal Protection of Disabled People and Persons with Socially Significant Diseases", an investigation was launched. More than 60 people testified that they were subjected to physical and sexual violence there. 44 people were recognized as victims in 2020 alone. On January 30, 2024, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don found the hospital personnel guilty of torturing patients in the psychiatric department. Former Deputy Chief of the institution Alexander Lyakh was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, head of the psychiatric department Daria Pozdnyakova and psychiatrist Anastasia Potrochina were sentenced to six and five years in prison, respectively.
83	2020	Moscow	Bukharov Gennady	m		x	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Moscow, Gennady Bukharov was detained at the Federal Security Service (FSB) building on Lubyanka Square during his solo picket, which he began on 24 June 2020 on the day that the Victory Parade was held on Red Square. By order of Simonovsky Court in Moscow, Bukharov was sent to the Alexeyev Psychiatric Hospital for involuntary treatment. Later he was transferred to Psychiatric Hospital No. 13 in Moscow. At a trial on 6 July, the judge refused on procedural grounds to review on the merits the case of Bukharov’s involuntary hospitalization. A new trial has taken place, but its outcome is not known, and it is not known how much time Bukharov has spent in the psychiatric hospital.
84	2020	St. Petersburg	Merkulov Alexander	m	1997	young	yes	no	no	no	An anarchist and LGBT activist from St. Petersburg, Alexander Merkulov was sent in October 2020 from an investigation-isolation prison for in-patient forensic psychiatric evaluation, where he spent 30 days. Merkulov had been arrested in July 2020 on charges of “public justification of terrorism” (Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The charges stemmed from Merkulov’s posts on social networks regarding the terrorist attack on the FSB building in Arkhangelsk in 2018 (see Dmitry Nadein). During the investigation, an FSB investigator directly threatened Merkulov with sending him for a psychiatric examination and a diagnosis of mental illness if he continued to deny his guilt. Merkulov was pronounced fit to stand trial after an examination and was transferred to house arrest. He pled guilty and in June 2021 was sentenced to a fine of 200,000 rubles (US $2,698).
85	2020	Rostov region	Mikhailov Roman	m	1978	x	yes	no	no	no	In April 2020, a 42-year-old prisoner named Roman Mikhailov was brought to the MOTB-19. He had been sentenced for a murder threat (Art. 119 of the Criminal Code, punishable by up to two years imprisonment). On 24 June, Mikhailov died, according to the autopsy, from “sepsis and phlegmon of the lumbar region”. His relatives believe that this came from wounds that formed from being tied to his bed for a long period. His daughter, who saw him for the last time in court, says that Mikhailov weighed only 120 kilos at the time. “When his body was turned over to me in June, I didn’t recognize him – he was entirely grey, with long fingernails on his hands, and was skin and bones. I only identified him from the tattoos on his arms” (in early June, his lawyer had attempted to visit Mikhail, but was refused). Also see Arapov Ruslan
86	2020	Primorsky Krai	Zabaznov Nikita	m		young	yes	no	no	no	A video blogger from Vladivostok, Nikita Zabaznov was sent to a psychiatric hospital for involuntary treatment in March 2020. The reason for the hospitalization was a video blog in which Zabaznov complained that in order to obtain a driver’s license, a psychiatric hospital required him to pay 4,000 rubles. Technically, this cash was supposed to pay for “additional” services at the psychiatric clinic, whereas officially, this procedure was considered free. Zabaznov spent 30 days in a Territory psychiatric hospital.
87	2019	Novosibirsk region	Dobrynin Vyacheslav Sergeevich	m	1978	x	yes	no	yes	yes	Vyacheslav Dobrynin, born in 1978, is a resident of Novosibirsk and an activist of the opposition movement "Artpodgotovka," which has been designated as an extremist organization in Russia. In September 2018, a criminal case was opened in Novosibirsk concerning the preparation to organize mass riots (part 1, Article 30, part 2, Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and the preparation to participate in mass riots (part 1, Article 30, part 2, Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The charges stemmed from calls for protest actions disseminated online. According to the investigation, three accused individuals, including Dobrynin, allegedly planned to burn tires, throw Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers, and seize local television stations. During a search of Dobrynin's home, bottles containing flammable mixtures were found. According to information from the Memorial Center, there are compelling grounds to believe that the accused were deliberately provoked by security services into making certain statements and taking certain actions. The Artpodgotovka movement called for peaceful protest, and the Molotov cocktails were intended for self-defense in case of potential dispersal of the rally. Vyacheslav did not plead guilty and went on a hunger strike to draw public attention to the case. Dobrynin was subjected to a forensic psychiatric evaluation, and in the conclusion dated March 5, 2019, the doctors reported that he had developed a "temporary mental disorder in the form of a paranoid reaction with delusional-like fantasies." On April 24, 2019, judges D. I. Golubchenko, S. V. Zykina, and I. A. Shaifler of the Novosibirsk Regional Court sentenced two of Dobrynin’s co-defendants to prison terms ranging from 2.5 to 3 years in a penal colony. Vyacheslav, however, was declared mentally unfit and sent for compulsory treatment at the Novosibirsk Regional Psychiatric Hospital of a specialized type №6.
88	2019	Orenburg region	Osipov Vadim	m	1998	young	yes	no	yes	yes	A cadet at the Mozhaisky Military Space Academy, Vadim Osipov was accused of “abetting terrorist activity” (Art. 201.5, part 1 of the Criminal Code) and “preparation of a terrorist act” (Art. 30, part 1; Art. 205, part 3, point b). Vadim Osipov was born in 1998 in Orenburg. He was raised in an orphanage (he had no father, and his mother suffered from alcoholism). In 2011, Osipov entered the Orenburg Presidential Cadet Academy, and in 2016, Osipov became a cadet at the Mozhaisky Military Space Academy in St. Petersburg. Osipov did not like his studies in the cartography department; he wanted to serve in troops that combat terrorist attacks and prevent them. He tried to find ways to transfer to another military academy, but the rules did not permit this. Osipov studied terrorist attacks and looked for ways to prevent them; for these purposes, he downloaded a book from the Internet called ABCs of Domestic Terrorism (a version of the well-known The Anarchist Cookbook). In the spring of 2017, Osipov told a classmate how a terrorist attack could be made on the Academy barracks, and on the next day, he sketched a diagram. The piece of paper got into the hands of a teacher, who then had a talk with Osipov, to determine the intent of the diagram – Osipov expressed his opinion about the state of security at the Academy. The conversation ended with that, but the teacher turned in the paper in to the FSB. The FSB officers from the very beginning proceeded as if Osipov himself had intended to commit the terrorist attack described by him in the diagram, despite the fact that he had said outright, that he considered his idea interesting, “since it could later be used to detect flaws in the system, for example, in the daily routine and so on”. On 9 April, Vadim Osipov was detained, and the next day put under arrest for two months. At the investigation isolation prison, he was twice examined by psychiatrists who discovered “accentuations of character” – vividly expressed features of the personality, close to the limits of the accepted norm. The conclusion stated that “one of the clearly expressed traits of the person under examination is his judgement, the tendency to make sense of the surrounding reality in terms of logical patterns, the tendency to look for unconventional solutions”. The court ordered a new evaluation for Osipov at the Defense Ministry’s 111th Main State Center for Forensic Medical and Criminal Evaluations in Moscow. There, he was given the diagnosis of “schizotypal personality disorder” (F21.8 under the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision). In May 2019, the court pronounced Osipov unfit to stand trial and ordered involuntary treatment for him in a psychiatric hospital. After this, Osipov was transferred to Psychiatric Hospital No. 5 in the Chekhov District of Moscow Region. There, he was given neuroleptics, including haloperidol. As Osipov wrote in a letter, “I was bound so tightly, that I wasn’t able to move my hands normally, and got around in a fetal position. Only my legs moved; at the peak of my treatment, the binding reached up to my jaw. My mouth was constantly open, I could not close it, only if I gritted my teeth by force”. After his requests for help, Osipov was tied to his bed. Later, Osipov was transferred to the psychiatric hospital in Orenburg (where he was born); there was no information about his location at the present time.
89	2019	Kemerovo region	Gorlanov Ingvar 1	m	1998	young	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Novokuznetsk (Kemerovo region), Ingvar Gorlanov is a graduate of an orphanage and activist who previously opposed punitive psychiatry in orphanages, as well as for the rights of orphans who cannot receive the apartments they are entitled to after leaving the orphanage. On December 27, 2019, Ingvar went to the building of the Presidential Administration of Russia in Moscow for a picket in defense of political prisoners. He was detained and taken to the police station, where, according to him, psychiatrists were called. One of the doctors punched him hard in the jaw and under the ribs, after which he was injected intramuscularly with some kind of drug, after which Gorlanov did not remember anything. Gorlanov was taken from the police station to a psychiatric hospital named after Gannushkin, where they tied him to the bed. On December 30, the Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow ordered to prescribe compulsory treatment – although Gorlanov had never applied to psychiatrists before and was not registered as a psychiatric patient. Before the court session, Gorlanov received an injection of a neuroleptic, so he could not remember how the trial took place, or even where it took place (according to Gorlanov, the trial took place in the hospital itself, however, according to the documents, it took place in the courthouse). According to one of the acquaintances who visited Gorlanov in the hospital, "he has changed dramatically: his will was completely suppressed, he had a detached, distracted look, experienced a memory loos, the inability to recall any details, a complete lack of emotions, alienation. Speech was very slow." Soon Gorlanov was transferred from the hospital named after Gannushkin to the Kemerovo psychiatric hospital, and a week later he was sent from there to the Novokuznetsk psychiatric hospital. At the end of January 2021, he was released. On May 28, on appeal, the Moscow City Court declared Gorlanov's placement in a mental hospital illegal. See also Gorlanov Ingvar 2.
90	2019	Khabarovsk krai	Fedoseyev Viktor	m	1993	young	yes	no	yes	no	A native of Khabarovsk, 24-year-old Viktor Fedoseyev was detained on 9 September 2018 in Moscow, where he resided, after a mass protest against a draft law on raising the pension age. According to the investigation, during the action Fedoseyev punched a police officer in the ear (Art. 318, part 1 of the Criminal Code, “use of force, non-threatening to life or health, against a representative of authority”). The defense demonstrated that the accused was himself beaten by policemen – Fedoseyev showed the large bruises on his arms in court – and apparently, suffered a concussion, which led to memory loss. Fedoseyev behaved erratically in court; he could not remember where he lived, although a medical evaluation was not made. Fedoseyev did not give testimony during the investigation, citing Art. 51 of the Constitution (regarding self-incrimination). Prior to this arrest, Fedoseyev had never sought psychiatric help and was not registered at the psychiatric clinic; nevertheless, in February 2019, he was pronounced unfit to stand trial in February 2019 and was sent by court order for involuntary treatment. The court hearing was held in the defendant’s absence. Fedoseyev was in the Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 2 in the city of Khabarovsk until September 7, 2020. In January 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) reviewed Fedoseyev's complaint. The court determined that the Russian authorities violated Fedoseyev's right to a timely court review of the legality of his detention (Article 5, Part 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights). As a result, Fedoseyev was awarded compensation in the amount of 3700 euros.
91	2019	Moscow	Kostylyov Vasily	m	1982	x	yes	no	yes	no	In March 2019, a court ordered involuntary treatment for 36-year-old Vasily Kostylyov. He had been detained at the same protest against pension reform on 9 September as Fedoseyev. Kostylyov has a higher degree and had previously resided in the Moscow suburbs. He is married, has a child, and worked as a site manager at Krokus, a large firm. Kostylyov repeatedly took part in protests (although he had never been detained even once). In a video from the 9 September demonstration, Kostylyov can be seen actively taking part in the protest, calling on participants to link arms in a line; then the OMON (riot police) charge him, beating him with clubs. Kostylyov also appeared in court in torn clothing. Kostylyov was charged under Art. 318, part 1 (“use of force not threatening to life or health, against a government representative”). Previously, Kostylyov had never sought psychiatric treatment and was not on the psychiatric register. Kostylev was under involuntary treatment for 16 months and was discharged from the psychiatric hospital in December 2020.
92	2018	Crimea*	Masharipov Junus	m	1964	middle	yes	no	yes	yes	The Crimean Tatar Yunus Masharipov (born in 1964) resided in Yalta and was known as a human rights advocate and activist who spoke out against the annexation of Crimea and the repression of Crimean Tatars. Masharipov was arrested in September 2017 on charges of preparation and storage of explosive substances (Articles 223 and 222 of the Criminal Code). According to the indictment, Masharipov prepared explosive devices which he intended to use to blow up a power line in the suburbs of Sevastopol. During the preliminary investigation, Masharipov confessed his guilt, and his video confession was published by the FSB. Later, Masharipov explained that he made his confession under torture and requested that this statement be published in the media. As Masharipov himself indicated, he “himself personally experienced the whole horror of brutal methods of torture by officers of the FSB, with manifestation of sadism”. As Masharipov described it, FSB officers “forced him to squat on his heels in handcuffs in an uncomfortable pose with outstretched arms with fingers spread. After I could stand it no longer, I fell on my side, and an FSB officer began to kick me in the kidneys. He put a condom on a wooden stick, ran it over my lips, trying to stick it into my mouth through my teeth. They forced me to kneel, twisted my arms behind my back and pressed down on the handcuffs with their feet. They forced me to lie naked on a cold floor, […], and burned the palms of my hands with cigarette lighters”. He was also tortured with electricity (electro-shock). Subsequently, the court cleared Masharipov of the charge of manufacturing explosives. Nevertheless, in November 2018, he was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment. The appellate court overturned the sentence, however issued a ruling under which Masharipov was pronounced unfit to stand trial regarding the charges filed and sent for involuntary treatment at an in-patient psychiatric hospital under intensive observation (STIN) in the city of Kamyshin in Volgograd Region. Masharipov is held there to date.
93	2018	Krasnodar Krai	Sokolov Maxim	m	1992	young	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of the village of Staroshcherbinovskaya, Krasnodar Krai, a lawyer by education, 30-year-old Maxim Sokolov in 2018 was charged under articles of the Criminal Code on libel (Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code) and insulting a representative of the authorities (Article 319 of the Criminal Code). The basis for instituting a libel case was Sokolov's complaints to state authorities about the inaction of the Investigative Committee (IC) staff, who refused to investigate the case of a death threat that Sokolov received on his social network account. After refusing to initiate criminal proceedings, Sokolov accused the investigator of the IC of concealing other crimes committed, in his opinion, on the Internet, in particular, what Sokolov interpreted as child pornography (a new investigation confirmed the fact of the crime, but the criminal case was not initiated for procedural reasons). In March 2018, Sokolov called the police after some people had come to his house and introduced themselves as Rostelecom employees, they asked for a username and password from the router. Sokolov refused to give the password, after which the people left, but on Sokolov's call, police officers arrived together with the head of the department, a police lieutenant colonel. The officer demanded an explanation from Sokolov why he called the police, the conversation was very rude, however, the police left without detaining Sokolov. Only later, according to the statement of the police lieutenant colonel, a criminal case of insult was initiated. In August 2018, Sokolov was sent for inpatient forensic psychiatric assessment to Krasnodar, where he spent 26 days. In the assessment report it was concluded that Sokolov suffered from "sluggish schizophrenia against the background of organic brain damage." Sokolov himself pointed out the contradictions in the assessment report. The brain examination was not carried out, and in the report it was said that his father had suffered from schizophrenia, although Sokolov did not know his father, and nothing was known about him. Sokolov was also registered in the military enlistment office as fit for military service and never turned to psychiatrists. An independent examination conducted by Vladimir Mendelevich, a professor at Kazan Medical University, did not confirm the established diagnosis. On December 11, 2018, the magistrate's court ordered to forcibly hospitalize Sokolov, while neither he nor his lawyer were present at the meeting. They were both removed from the courtroom – Sokolov for protests from the seat, the defender on procedural grounds (since Sokolov himself was in court at the beginning of the meeting, the corresponding power of attorney for the defense lawyer was not issued at that time). During the appeal hearing of the case in February 2019, the Shcherbinovsky District Court overturned the decision of the magistrate's court. The same court in December 2019 ordered to conduct a second inpatient forensic psychiatric examination in St. Petersburg, where Sokolov also spent a month. The new examination confirmed the conclusion of the examination in Krasnodar, after which the Shcherbinovsky district Court in March 2020 ordered the compulsory treatment. On June 4, Sokolov was detained by police officers and sent to the Kushchevskaya Specialized Psychiatric Hospital No. 3 (for socially dangerous mentally ill). By that time, the statute of limitations under Article 128.1 had already expired. In December 2020, the Kushchevsky District Court extended the term of Sokolov's compulsory treatment until June 8, 2021. According to the latest information available at the time of writing this report, his stay in the hospital has been extended once again until December 2022. Having been found sane, Sokolov under Article 319 could have been sentenced either to a fine, or to compulsory labor, or to correctional labor for a period of no more than one year. According to Sokolov's lawyer, "he wrote many complaints and, apparently, the local authorities had enough of him. Medical measures applied to him, which in fact are punitive psychiatry, was practiced a lot in the Soviet Union."
94	2018	Sverdlovsk region	Briurosh Ivan	m	1989	x	yes	no	no	no	In May 2018, Ivan Briurosh, age 29, a senior police lieutenant in the Interior Department of Sverdlov Region was hospitalized directly from his shift with a diagnosis of “chronic polyneuropathy” (injury to the peripheral nerve system) with damage to the right side of his body – his right and leg were paralyzed”. After treatment, according to law, Briurosh was supposed to be declared disabled and dismissed from the Interior Ministry with the relevant compensations. However, despite the fact that Briurosh could not move about without a cane even after recovery, and could not write with his right hand, a military physicians’ commission placed his diagnosis under doubt and refused to grant Briurosh disabled status. He was sent on leave, during which he once again wound up in the hospital, where the diagnosis of “neuropathy” was confirmed. Several days after returning to service from vacation, Briurosh once again fell ill, and was hospitalized after which he was sent to Moscow for “examination” – for some reason to the psychiatric department of the Interior Ministry Central Hospital. There, the semi-paralyzed Briurosh began to be “treated” with neuroleptics from the very first day; moreover, he was not informed of the name of the neuroleptic. He was held on a locked wing, and as he described it, “the grounds of the hospital were surrounded by a high fence with barbed wire. There were cameras nearly every 25 meters”. Briurosh was discharged after a month, after which he was fired from the Interior Ministry “due to loss of confidence,” which does not grant him the right to receive a disability pension.
95	2018	Crimea*	Memedeminov Nariman	m	1983	x	yes	no	no	no	see Ulmerov
96	2018	Crimea*	Mustafayev Server	m	1986	x	yes	no	no	no	see Ulmerov
97	2018	Altai krai	Shasherin Andrei	m	1980	x	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Barnaul (in Altai krai), Andrei Shasherin in July 2018 was charged under Art. 148 (“harming the feelings of believers”) and Art. 282 (“incitement of hatred or enmity”) for his memes on the social network Vkontakte. Among them, in particular was the depiction of a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church with the caption “Have you sinned? Recite ‘Crimea is Ours’ three times”. (The reference was to a slogan popular among Russian nationalists when Russian forcibly annexed Crimea, which is Ukrainian territory, in 2014). Shasherin is 38 years old, he supports a wife and five-year-old son, and because Shasherin’s bank account has been frozen, he can’t use his bank card. After Shasherin refused to plead guilty in the case, the investigator ordered a forensic psychiatric evaluation for him. On 24 July, the district court ruled that Shasherin must be placed under in-patient psychiatric care. Later, the criminal case against Andrei was dropped due to exonerating circumstances.
98	2018	St. Petersburg	Trofimov Pyotr	m	1970	x	yes	no	no	no	Pyotr Trofimov was a participant in the Open Russia movement (which has been declared an “undesirable organization,” participation in which is a threat of imprisonment). He was detained by police at his home in St. Petersburg on 14 June 2018. The grounds for detention were a criminal case opened against Trofimov under Art. 330 of the Criminal Code (“abuse of rights”) in 2014. According to the version of the indictment, Trofimov did not return some welding equipment to the management of a shipyard where he worked as a welder, for which he was personally liable. Trofimov himself explained that he was suddenly fired for attempting to organize a union at the shipyard, so that he did not manage to return the equipment in time (in any event, the statute of limitations on this case expired back in 2016). Police took Trofimov for examination at City Psychiatric Hospital No. 6, where doctors reported that they were keeping him as an impatient for 30 days. After a number of solo pickets, and also a group action by the Spring movement in defense of Trofimov in St. Petersburg, which took place on 4 July, he was discharged (and was pronounced fit to stand trial in the criminal case).
99	2018	Crimea*	Zekiryaev Server	m	1973	x	yes	no	no	no	see Ulmerov
100	2017	Nizhny Novgorod region	Gurdjian Albert	m	1974	x	yes	no	yes	yes	A resident of Nizhny Novgorod, Albert Gurdjian (born 1974) is an activist in the political movement called Artpodgotovka [Bombardment] and was also well known as a video blogger, openly criticizing the corruption and unlawful actions of the local authorities. In January 2017, after a report on the local television program Kstati [Incidentally] about an intoxicated judge who shot his non-lethal weapon at a woman walking her dog along the street, Gurdjian wrote a comment on an Internet forum in which he called the judicial community “an OGP [organized crime group] worthy of the maximum [capital] punishment or a prison term”. The prosecutor’s office perceived this as “denigration of the dignity of a group of person based on affiliation to a social group (employees of judicial agencies of the Russian Federation)” and opened up a criminal case under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (“incitement of hatred or enmity or denigration of human dignity”). Later, in Gurdjian’s posts on social networks, a statement was discovered which then triggered a new criminal case against him under Art. 205.2 (“public justification of terrorism”). In his post, Gurdjian commented on the crash of a flight to Syria (in which the entire Russian Army orchestra [the Alexander Ensemble] was killed) and claimed it would be good to “blast Sechin’s yacht” (Igor Sechin is the general director of the state oil company Rosneft), well known as a close friend to President Putin and one of the major corrupt figures in Russia. In a search of Gurdjian’s home, a signals pistol (without ammunition) was found, along with a fountain pen, in which a video-recording device was installed (the sale and possession of such items are banned under Arts. 222 and 138.1 of the Criminal Code (“illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, possession, transport or carrying of weapons” and “illegal trafficking in special technical devices intended for clandestine receipt of information”). On 11 February, Gurdjian was arrested, pronounced unfit to stand trial after an in-patient forensic psychiatric evaluation and in July 2017 was placed in a psychiatric hospital in Kazan. In December 2017, Gurdjian escaped from the hospital, but was detained two days later and his home and later sent to the Kazan STIN (the first of the notorious special psychiatric hospitals of the Soviet Union). Gurdjian remains there to date. (Meanwhile, due to changes in the law, the charge against Gurdjian under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code was dismissed).
101	2017	Rostov region	Arapov Ruslan	m		x	yes	no	no	no	The psychiatric departments of hospitals for inmates at prisons and labor camps, just as in the USSR, remain secret facilities. The prisoners there are essentially deprived of communication with the outside world – correspondence is censored, visits from relatives are not allowed, even members of the Public Monitoring Commissions of places of imprisonment are rarely able to obtain access. The oversight agencies of the Directorate of the Federal Corrections Service also rarely inspects these departments (as far as is known, it is approximately once in five years). There are no video cameras in the departments, which is compulsory for all places of confinement (the members of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) proposed to the hospital management that they install a video surveillance system at their own expense, but they refused). There is only one case known, when members of the PMC were able to obtain access to the psychoneurological department of the Inter-Regional Tuberculosis Hospital No. 19 (MOTB-19) in Rostov Region. The reason for the visit to MOTB-19 was a statement by Ruslan Arapov, a prisoner in Investigative Isolation Prison No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don, who in September 2017, during a visit from members of the PMC showed them injuries on his legs. According to Arapov, he suffered the wounds when he was tied to his bed for a long time at MOTB-19 – he spent a total of 71 days. According to the PMC members, one of his wounds above the knee was about 15 centimeters in length; a second one, somewhat lower, was about 6 centimeters. As Arapov reported, 19 patients at the psychoneurological department of MOTB-19 were often tied to their cots for several months at a time and were untied only during meals and visits to the toilet. For the entire time they were bound, they were injected with neuroleptics. That same month, the PMC obtained the right to visit MOTB-19. As one of them recounted, “we saw on one person’s back a bed sore that was such a hole that it was as if someone had shot him directly in the back…I have never seen such a thing before. There were seven people bound at the time of our visit. We asked them; one had not been untied for five days, another three days”. However, as the members of the PMC themselves acknowledged, “we could not manage to question many of them because they had been ‘shot up’ with drugs and were unable to talk”. As the PMC discovered, other prisoners are watching over the bound inmates. “It reaches the point of abuse – mental and sexual abuse. They spit in their mouths, in their food, and beat them. Or they take out their members and rub them around the prisoners’ mouths, over their faces – there’s a lot of that”. During a second visit to MOTB-19, members of the PMC saw a person with bedsores on his back, “large, almost down to the muscle,” recalls a PMC member. The prisoner described how “they don’t untie me and torture me,” and had placed him in the hospital because he “did not want to fulfill the requirements” of officials from the Federal Corrections Service”. According to prisoners, the usual reason for internment in the MOTB-19 psychoneurological department is not manifestations of psychopathology, but complaints to state agencies and protests. “Prisoners who have either quarreled with the Federal Corrections Service (FCS) officers or do not fulfill the demands made on them are sent to the MOTB-19 psychiatric wing,” Igor Omelchenko, a member of the PMC said. In his opinion, “the people who wind up on this wing are those who have harmed themselves or threatened someone, a lot could be written. There they are injected with medications, tied to their beds – by the arms and legs. People lay from one to three months, they are fed little, they are all emaciated, their limbs atrophy…”
102	2017	Volgograd region	Boltykhov Anatoly	m	1973	x	yes	no	no	no	Anatoly Boltykhov, a participant in the opposition movement Artpodgotovka [Bombardment] from Volgograd, was hospitalized involuntarily on 17 November 2017. Police officers detained Boltykhov near his home; the basis for his detention was suspicion of theft of an automobile battery (no charges were officially filed). A team from the psychiatric emergency service was summoned to the police department, and after talking with Boltykhov, the medics left without explanation. But after a while, another emergency team arrived and took Boltykhov to a psychiatric hospital. At the ER admissions, a doctor spent a long time trying to determine why Boltykhov had been brought there, and police reported that when detained he had “behaved inappropriately,” and spoke about “seizing power,” after which Boltykhov was hospitalized. On 22 November, a court hearing took place, and the judge ruled that Boltykhov should be involuntarily hospitalized. The court based its decision on the emergency physician’s conclusion, where Boltykhov was given the preliminary diagnosis of “schizotypal disorder”. Furthermore, Shulepin, chair of the psychiatric commission, reported that she believes Boltykhov was quite sane and recommended a psychiatric examination without hospitalization. A month later, a hearing was held at a regional court, which upon appeal overturned the hospitalization decision, and Boltykhov was released.
103	2017	Moscow region	Churikova Olga	f	1935	senior	yes	no	no	no	Olga Churikova, age 82, a resident of the village of Manushkino in the Chekhov District of the Moscow Region, was detained at the Meshcherskoye Station by a detachment of police headed by Col. Andrei Bolshakov, chief of police of the Chekhov District. The reason for the detention was a hunger strike, which Churikova had declared, joining the protests of residents of Manushkino, who had long been trying to get closed a garbage dump on the outskirts of town. At the station, Chirkova also handed out flyers with protests against the use of the garbage site. Churikova suffered bruises when detained by police (recorded by a medical examination); moreover, she lost a little cross and gold chain she had worn, which she reported to the investigative committee. From the police station, Churkova was sent to the in-patient psychiatric clinic under the pretext she “must have a cardiogram and lower her blood pressure”. Churikova did not receive any treatment but spent two days in the psychiatric clinic.
104	2017	St. Petersburg	Yablonsky Pyotr	m	1996	young	yes	no	no	no	Pyotr Yablonsky, a 20-year-old student from St. Petersburg was detained on the night of 31 August 2017 as he was leaving his home. The pretext for detaining him was his participation in the online forums of the movement Artpodgotovka [Bombardment] and writing graffiti, in particular, “Putin Retire!” Yablonsky was beaten when detained, handcuffs were put on him, and the beating continued at the police station until Yablonsky confessed he had written the graffiti. The next day, his home was searched, and later that same day he was sent from the police precinct by psychiatric emergency service to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation. To justify the detention, the police drew up a report that Yablonsky had supposedly swore obscenities in a public place. The doctor at the psychiatric clinic prescribed involuntary hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital (according to Yablonsky, the psychiatrist did not even talk to him.) From the police department, Yablonsky was taken in a psychiatric ambulance to an in-patient clinic. (After discovering signs of beating, the ambulance medical personnel first took Yablonsky to a clinic, where an examination was made of his injuries, but the findings were sent for some reason to the same police department where Yablonsky was in fact beaten). Yablonsky was placed in the psychosomatic department of the Alexandrov Hospital in St. Petersburg. There he remained until 3 September, when doctors admitted that Yablonsky did not require either observation or treatment, and he was released.
105	2017	Kemerovo region	Yuzhakov Evgeny	m		x	yes	no	no	no	An environmental activist from the village of Rassvet in Kemerovo Region, Evgeny Yuzhakov constantly staged protests against open-pit mining of coal, which worsened the region’s already bad environment. Several years ago, Yuzhakov returned from Novokuznetsk to his native village of Rassvet, near which open-pit coal mining was underway. Yuzhakov constantly wrote on social media and Internet forums about the environmental disaster due to coal mining. (The coal-mine in Rassvet starts several hundred meters from people’s homes). On 20 August 2017, Yuzhakov began demonstrating on the highway with a poster, “We in Rassvet understand everything, you are only feeding your own children!” and covered the road with broken glass, to stop the coal trucks. The security guards at the mine summoned the police, and Yuzhakov was brought to the village police department, where a citation was issued for an administrative misdemeanor. Later, Yuzhakov was released to go home. On the next day, Yuzhakov drove up to the checkpoint of Energougol, a mining company, poured gasoline on himself, and locked himself into the car, demanding that the coal mine be closed. Police and emergency workers came to the scene; they broke the window, dragged Yuzhakov from the car and admitted him involuntarily to Psychiatric Hospital No. 12. It is not known how long Yuzhakov has been on involuntary treatment.
106	2017	Zabaykalsky Krai	Likhanov Nikolai	m	1972	x	yes	no	no	no	A civic activist from Chita, Nikolai Likhanov was sent to a psychiatric hospital for involuntary treatment after he started a movement to obtain more rights for Zabaykalsky Krai in relationship to the federal center in Moscow. As his brother Anatoly said, “We are trying to obtain greater independence for ourselves from the federal center, because the region now is like a federal colony”. Moreover, Likhanov demanded the resignation of the mayor of the city of Chita and wrote statements to state agencies protesting corruption among regional energy monopolists, who imposed high prices on electricity. On 20 February 2017, Likhanov was detained at his home by police officers in masks with machine guns, who took him to the police precinct and from there to the Territory Kandinsky Clinical Psychiatric Hospital. The reason was a statement by a dozen officials of the regional administrations who claimed Lukhanov “threatened them with a lawsuit”. The administration officials also claimed in their statements that Likhanov “comes to [the administration] once a week, talks loudly, and says that ‘all of you should be fired’”. They also reported that Likhanov “moves chairs around” in the administration’s offices. (As it was discovered in court, not all the authors of the statements had even seen Likhanov; at least one of the administration officials wrote a statement simply at the request of her bosses). At the psychiatric hospital, an evaluation was immediately conducted, and a petition was made to the court for involuntary hospitalization of Likhanov. Likhanov himself refused to speak with doctors, since the conversation was not filmed or recorded, and his representative was not allowed to be present during the examination. Two days later, the Chernovsky District Court ruled to involuntarily hospitalize Likhanov. Until 14 March, Likhanov was in the hospital – although no psychotropic drugs were administered to him. After Likhanov’s case was publicized, upon appeal, the Territory court overturned the decision of the district court and released Likhanov.
107	2017	Crimea*	Saliev Sejran	m	1985	x	yes	no	no	no	see Ulmerov
108	2016	Crimea*	Ulmerov Ilmi	m	1957	middle	yes	no	no	no	After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian authorities began to wage systematic repression against the Crimean Tatars, the indigenous colonized population of Crimea. More than 50 Crimean Tatars – activists of the national movement and Muslims – were prosecuted on charges of “public calls to carry out actions aimed at violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation” and “organization of the activity of a terrorist organization and participation in the activity of such an organization”. (By “terrorist,” the authorities mean Hizb-ut-tahir, which was declared a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation.) Approximately half of those charged in these cases have undergone in-patient forensic psychiatric evaluation in Simferopol. Investigators directly threatened those suspects who did not admit their guilt with being sent for evaluation and being pronounced unfit to stand trial (see Yunus Masharipov). None of those sent by the investigation for evaluation had any indications that would place their mental health in doubt, and previously had never been treated by a psychiatrist. Ilmi Umerov, the leader of the Crimean Tatar movement, described the hospital stay for forensic psychiatric evaluation as “torture lasting a month”. Umerov has written that “a sane person is placed among actually chronically ill people. The treatment by the staff, except for the doctors, is the same as towards the [mentally] ill: the swearing and the shouts are identical.” The psychiatric wing suffers from overcrowding, the living conditions are worse than those in prison (the toilet was so filthy that Umerov could not use it and obtained the right as an exception to use the toilet for the medical personnel); during hot weather, the cots are put outside for the night. OMON (riot troops) maintain order on the wing. As Seyran Saliyev, one of those who went through the evaluation, “when you go out for a walk, or take ablutions [Muslim ritual before prayer], or you go to the kitchen, they accompany you with a rubber truncheon in their hands and anger in their eyes”. Since 2017, among those who have passed through forensic psychiatric evaluation are: - Seyran Saliyev - Server Mustafayev - Server Zekiryayev - Nariman Memedeminov Memedeminov wrote that “the very fact of a sane person undergoing a psychological evaluation is pressure”. Memedeminov also reported the one of the psychiatrists himself admitted: “in general, I do not understand why you are being brought here? We look [at you] and see normal people, sane people, but they keep bring you to us”. All the Crimean Tatars were pronounced fit to stand trial under the charges brought against them (except for Yusup Masharipov, see above).
109	2015	Nizhny Novgorod region	Panin Yegor	m	1998	young	yes	no	no	no	A resident of Nizhny Novgorod, Yegor Panin from the age of 15 went through several outpatient and in-patient courses of a “cure for homosexuality”. Panin lived with his mother and younger brother, and in 2014, his mother read his messages on social networks and found out that Yegor is gay. She used her personal connections to get help from a psychiatrist whom she knew personally, Dr. Alexander Pershin, former chief physician at the Nizhegorodskaya Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 – who forced Yegor to take neuroleptics first in tablet form, then through injections. In January 2015, Panin ran away from home and lived for several weeks at a friend’s house in the Moscow suburbs. Meanwhile, Panin’s mother filed a report with the Investigative Committee (IC) about the “kidnapping” of Yegor, after which IC officers detained Panin and sent him home. Panin once again ran away from home and found shelter at Lastochka [Sparrow], a social rehabilitation center for minors in Nizhny Novgorod. On 10 March his mother came there after which with the consent of the center’s management, Panin was taken by orderlies to Psychiatric Hospital No. 2. At the hospital, a lawyer from Agora, the international human rights group, tried to visit Panin, but the administration would not allow him to meet with Panin. According to Panin, during the first two weeks at the hospital, no one talked to him at all, but as soon as his hospitalization became known from media and social networks, he immediately began receiving large doses of neuroleptics, and “was like a vegetable”. A month later – and two days after his lawyer’s failed attempt at a visit – Panin was discharged, after first being forced to sign his consent to hospitalization after the fact and was transferred to treatment as a daily out-patient. According to Panin himself, there were many documents, but under the influence of neuroleptics, he was in no condition to read them. At home, Panin was forced to take neuroleptics, and in October 2015 he once again fled and went to St. Petersburg where he tried to find help at various LGBT assistance groups. On 20 October, Panin was summoned for interrogation to the St. Petersburg Investigative Committee in the case of his “kidnapping,” his mother arrived, and then with the consent of the investigator, took Panin home. In December 2015, Panin turned 18 years old, and became an adult, however, under pressure from his mother, he was forced to continue taking the neuroleptic drugs prescribed to him by Dr. Alexander Pershin, the psychiatrist. According to Panin, once again “I was drooling and feeling like a vegetable”. In October 2017, upon learning that both the Panin brothers intended once again to run away from home, the mother summoned the psychiatric emergency service, the police, and Dr. Pershin. As Yegor Panin said, “they began to twist our arms behind our backs, they put on handcuffs, we yelled, and my brother was swearing obscenities, so that they would stop and not beat us, and then he was tasered. Then in the ambulance, we were beaten and then I was tasered”. Yegor Panin was sent to Psychiatric Hospital No. 2, where he spent five days; his younger brother spent more than a week there. In November 2017, Yegor Panin once again ran away from home, and his whereabouts are not known at this time; officially, according to the Investigative Committee, he is on the wanted list.