Key news on repression in Russia and against those who left: political prisoners, verdicts, new designations. Every item links to its source. Updated morning and evening.
updated 12 October 2026 · RSSMikheev says that on 25 September he was driven to the Armenian border, where he was held on a wanted notice at Minsk's request. Rights defender Roman Kisliak calls it in effect an enforced disappearance.
According to Nasha Niva, the woman was convicted of “facilitating extremist activity” and “calls for sanctions”. Her sentence is not yet known; she remains behind bars.
According to the rights project ZPCh, the founder of the Sandarmokh memorial, serving 15 years, was urgently moved from penal colony No. 18 in Mordovia to a prison medical facility. A lawyer will try to visit him on 26 September.
According to the Viasna human rights centre, Minsk City Court gave Sviatoslau Padvashetski 13 years in an enhanced-security colony on treason and drug charges. The trial was held behind closed doors.
According to Nasha Niva, a 50-year-old MTBank employee was convicted by Minsk City Court of inciting hatred over social media posts criticising Russia’s aggression. His sentence is unknown; he is in custody.
A court jailed the admin of the “Urals Chat” Telegram group for 10 days over two posts showing the flag of a movement the FSB listed as terrorist in 2025. It is the first known such case, 7x7 reports.
Abgul Suleymanov’s family link his administrative detention to his posts against restrictions on schoolgirls wearing the hijab. Police and the court gave no public reason, JAMnews reports, citing Meydan TV.
A Moscow court sent the elections expert, already labelled a “foreign agent”, to pre-trial detention on a large-scale drug dealing charge carrying up to 20 years. He denies it.
A district court remanded the lawyer in custody on charges of “justifying terrorism” over a social media post.
The Justice Ministry added the news YouTube channel, which has more than 3 million subscribers, to its register of “foreign agents”.
A court in Ivanovo ordered the arrest in absentia of the 53-year-old blogger on charges of spreading army “fakes” and evading “foreign agent” obligations.
The Southern District Military Court convicted them of plotting attacks on Russian-installed officials.
The Tula regional court sentenced them for setting fire to a trackside equipment cabinet.
Equipment used at Russian border checks can pull call history and contact lists from travellers’ phones over Bluetooth.
Lukashenko's press office announced the decree on 24 September: most of those pardoned, 10 people, are women. The press office claims all of them had petitioned for a pardon.
The imprisoned lawyer and former Volgograd university lecturer has suffered a sharp decline in vision, and doctors refuse to treat him, OVD-Info reports.
Human rights defenders say the 58-year-old political prisoner is in a critical state in a prison hospital in the Arkhangelsk region.
Artyom Kosolapov had been held in immigration detention in Arkansas since late August. Bail was set at $15,000; he still faces possible deportation.
Nadezhda Esina, 67, was convicted over donations to the “Vozrozhdenie” church.
A military court convicted a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old on terrorism and treason charges for throwing Molotov cocktails at a military unit; the vehicles were not damaged.
The St Petersburg City Court gave Oksana Ronzhes and Artyom Sakharov 13 years each: they were accused of filming power lines and the area near a military airfield on the orders of Ukraine's GUR.
The Interior Ministry is seeking Zhilin, who lives abroad, in a case of financing FBK. By Mediazona's count, 167 sentences have already been handed down in such cases.
A case for calls to act against state security has been opened against the journalist, who was designated a "foreign agent" in spring 2026.
According to Tonya Egorova, her father was detained on 15 September and tortured to make him confess to setting fire to a cell tower.
Defendants in the case of a burnt car belonging to an officer's wife told the court they were beaten during arrest and questioned without a defence lawyer.
Since June the number of minors on the list of "terrorists and extremists" has grown by 53. The youngest person on it was born in 2012.
Kazakhstan has finally refused asylum to the Navalny team member, and she may now be handed over to Russia.
Olga and Nikita Belov, whom the authorities wanted to deport to Russia in the spring, have been granted asylum in Finland.
A military court convicted 57-year-old Mikhail Antonovich of "financing terrorism": he left paid reactions in the channels of Naki, Nevzorov and Shpak.
A military court gave him 15 years in a strict-regime colony for graffiti in a lift and comments supporting the Freedom of Russia Legion, under treason and justifying-terrorism charges.
The journalist has been added to the list, so his bank transactions in Russia will be blocked.
Moscow's Simonovsky court is hearing the case under Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code. The defence says Fishman is being prosecuted for his journalism.
The list now includes a German foundation supporting ethnic Germans, the Ukrainian civic education centre Almenda and a British organisation.
The case is based on a 2024 video. Shpak, previously sentenced in absentia to 8 years over "fakes", will be charged in absentia.
The Memorial Political Prisoners Support project says the public list of Stars senders is a vulnerability that security forces use to open terrorism financing cases.
The Murmansk "foreign agent" journalist is accused of breaking the "foreign agent" rules and taking part in an "undesirable" organisation.
Alexander Pavlov says that after he tried to photograph the election commission's notice board, police beat him and shocked him more than 20 times.
The musician, who has a disability and was convicted over posts criticising the Kremlin, described pressure in the penal colony and asked to be put on the exchange lists.
The ministry said the director had worked with "foreign agents" and "undesirable" organisations. Several other people were added to the list at the same time.
The journalist, whose outlet is designated "undesirable", has been added to the wanted database.