Human Rights Violations in Russia – September 2025 Overview

By Darina Boykova

Besides illegal invasion and annexation of Ukraine, Russia has been cracking down on its own residents: fining, jailing, and persecuting people for opinions, expressions, and actions allowed under international law. This article is part of a monthly series of reports of human rights violations committed by the Russian state; it encapsulates actions relating to political prisoners, legal actions towards Ukrainian prisoners of war, LGTBQA+ crackdown, legal actions violating freedom of expression and more. The main source of information is MediaZona articles, translated to bring awareness of the injustices to English speakers. Russian citizens are continuing to stand up against the state and are punished for it.

For concerns, issues, and possible additions to the list, please email Darina.Boykova@rcda.ca.

Here is a recap of human rights violations that took place in Russia in September of 2025:

Poisoning Attempt

Telegram founder Pavel Durov shared that he was poisoned in 2018 when Telegram started to be blocked in Russia.

Poor Treatment of Prisoners and Arrestees

Torture or death while arrested

Dmitriy Hlopotunov shared that he was beaten by the law enforcement when he was arrested in an attempt for him to unblock his phone. Hlopotunov stated that the officers targeted his ear – as a result his ear drum was ruptured. The law enforcement did not admit their fault; they stated that Hlopotunov ruptured his ear drum when he repeatedly hit his head against objects, including a closet.

58 year old Jehovah Witness Mihail Proshenkov shared that he was threatened and tortured with electric shocker by law enforcement during his arrest. Since 2018, Jehovah Witnesses have continuously been arrested and jailed under the charge of extremism.

Igor Yakunichev shared that during his arrest he was chocked with a knee and, when he was placed in jail, he did not have access to his medicine or his letters.

Poor Treatment of Political Prisoners

Imprisoned Navalny’s former lawyer Alexei Liptser was denied a request to attend his mother’s funeral. His mother, Elena Liptser was a leading human rights lawyer in Russia who passed away on September 5, 2025. You can read more about Alexei and write him a letter here.

Political prisoner Vyacheslav Lutor announced a hunger strike – he shared that he does not have access to his medication, his toothache is not being addressed, and he was placed into isolation for washing his only set of clothes during inspection. Lutor was sentenced to 10 years in 2024 under the charge of treason for communicating with the Freedom of Russia Legion. You can read more about Vyacheslav, follow his blog, and write him a letter here.

Imprisoned activist Mikhail Kriger also announced a hunger strike as a response to the detention staff keeping him in isolation. Earlier this month Kriger was placed in stricter confinement conditions for the third time in the past 2 months. In 2023, Kriger was sentenced to 7 years for calls to execute Putin by hanging. You can read more about Mikhail, follow his blog, and write him a letter here.

Poor Treatment of Ukrainian Prisoners

Ukrainian prisoners of war and Ukrainian nationals from occupied territories exposed torturous treatment that they are forced to experience in Mordovian prison VK-10. Daily torture, mental and physical abuse, electric shocks onto genitals, forced standing for 16 hours a day, deliberate dog attacks, and chronical malnutrition are some of the conditions that repeatedly come up in BBC testimonies.

Legal Action for Conversations in Prison

Imprisoned Yevgeny Marchenko was sentenced to additional 3 years for a conversation with a cellmate.

Fines

Fines for Books

Owner of Family-book publisher Denis Ferman was fined for selling a recipe book by Veronika Belotserkovskaya without mentioning her “foreign agent” status.

Publisher New Literature Observer was fined 400,000 rubels (approx. $7,000) under the charge of LGTBQA+ propaganda for publishing Satanic Feminism by Per Faxneld.

Book seller on Wildberries Artem Karabanov was fined 30,000 rubles (approx. $520) for failing to indicate that one of books’ authors, Elizaveta Alexandrova-Zorina, is a “foreign agent.”

Fines for Discreditation

Mother of a mobilized man Lidia Nekrasova was fined 33,000 rubles (approx. $600) for a solo protest in front of a Ministry of Defence building. Her poster read “Freedom to the mobilized 21.09.22-21.09.25.” Nekrasova was charged with discreditation of Russian Forces.

Fines for Online Actions, Comments, and Posts

Lawyer and former legislator candidate Vera Mangileva was fined 45,000 rubles (approx. $800) for posting:

3 years of war… Initial goals were demilitarization and denazitifiation. Goals changed, complemented, and turned over any times throughout the three years. But the most scary thing is the death of the people!… We need PEACE!

Mangileva also pointed out that the person who conducted the “expert” analysis does not have required linguistic education.

Randila Ryabtseva was fined 150,000 rubles (approx. $2,500) under the charge of discreditation of the Russian Forces for her comment in VKontakte stating:

You murder children and peaceful civilians in adjacent country and consider yourselves saviors, but you are ordinary cleaners [(чистильщики)]. And you will have to live with this for the rest of your life. And it does not matter if you are killing with a weapon or with worlds while lying on a couch.

Ryabtseva has been previously fined under the same charge.

Blogger Bozhena Rynska was fined 20,000 rubles (approx. $350) under the charge of inciting hatred in an interview.

73 year old retiree Nina Akimova was fined 400,000 rubles (approx. $7,000) under the charge of incitement of terrorism on the Internet for 2019 comments under a video that depicted arrests of protesters in Moscow.

Podcast studio Or Or («Либо Либо») was fined 400,000 rubles (approx. $7,000) for mentioning singer Monetochka and writer Mihail Zygar without marking them as “foreign agents.”

Evgenya Rogozina was fined 310,000 rubles (approx. $5,400) under the charge of calls to terrorism for a comment “burn the witch” under a post that quoted Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut. The quote was part of the minister’s explanations of the new oil price hikes.

A woman was fined 400,000 rubles (approx. $7,000) under a charge of calls for actions against national security for a comment that called for a diversion.

A man was fined 90,000 rubles (approx. $1,500) under the charge of calls for disruption of Russian territorial sovereignty for a comment that stated “Trump, take Ural Federal District, we will pay you extra! :).”

Alexandr Karasev was fined 500,000 rubles (approx. $9,000) under the charge of calls for terrorism for a post in a Telegram chat that proposed to Ukraine that bombing Rublevka will make the war stop.

Legislator Mikhail Amosov was fined 1,500 rubles (approx. $25) and received a block on participation in the next election. The cause for the legal action was two photos of Navalny that he posted in his Telegram chat the day the political prisoner was murdered.

Imprisonment

Imprisonment for Online Content

Igor Yakunichev was sentenced to 12 years for posting “war fakes,” calls to terrorism, and repeated discreditation of Russian Forces on his VKontakte page. Yakunichev posted videos about crimes committed by the Russian Forces in Bucha, alongside information of the Freedom of Russia Legion. You can read more about Igor and write him a letter here.

Grigory Sverdlin, founder of the Get Lost project that assists Russians in avoiding mobilization, was sentenced in absentia to 6 years for war “fakes.” One of the posts of interest Sverdlin’s post on the murder of civilians in Bucha.

Political scientist Sergei Medvedev was sentenced in absentia to 10 years for videos on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Youtube channel: in one of the videos, Medvedev stated “soldiers of the Russian Forces destroyed Mariupol and murdered 20 thousand peaceful civilians.” Additionally, Medvedev’s statements that claim that Boeing MH17 was shot down by Russia in 2014 were also brought up.

Singer and former legislator Maria Maksakova-Igenbergs, who currently resides in Ukraine, was sentenced in absentia to 4.5 years for a video where she allegedly discredited Russian Forces. In the video, Maksakova-Igenbergs gave an interview where she shared of criminal actions of the Russian government and urged listeners to assist Ukrainian Forces.

Aleksandr Shevchuk was sentenced to 3 years for a comment that allegedly called for terrorism under a post about drone attack on Kremlin. The comment in question read:

Good! Until [they] do not seriously hit the Rublyovka or Kremlin, they will continue to play with toy soldiers! Putin will give word that [he] won’t “touch” the drug addict in Kiev and all those who come to him and calmly walk around the city! [They] will continue to hold the troops on the front in “shell famine.”

Pussy Riot participants Maria Alekhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, and Alina Petrova were sentenced in absentia to 13, 11, 8, 8, and 8 years respectably under the charge of spreading “war fakes.” The charge was initiated around an anti-war music video.

Anastasia Zibrova was sentenced to 5 years for a post in VKontakte. The court also refused to delay the sentence until her 6 year old daughter turns 14 – instead, the child was given to the father who earlier returned from Ukraine war, was not previously part of the child’s life, and who refuses to bring the daughter to meetings with her mother.

Security guard Alexandr Glushkin was sentenced to 5 years for reposting a post on VKontakte about Russian Forces murdering civilians in Bucha.

Security guard Sergey Tokarev was sentenced to 2 years under the charge of calls to terrorism for Telegram posts.

Andrey Kurylev was sentenced to 5 years for comments on VKontakte.

Alexandr Kulikov was sentenced to 3 years for posts online that “call for actions against safety of Russia.”

Painter Alexey Kiryanov was jailed (arrested) for 12 days for two posts on Russian social media VKontakte that allegedly created hatred against Putin supporters.

39 year old man was sentenced to 3 years of a conditional sentence for an online comment.

Former university instructor Dmitriy Skopin was sentenced to 3 years for justifying Ukrainian Forces invasion of the Kursk region. His SIM-card was also destroyed and his phone taken away.

39 year old man was sentenced to a harsher sentence of 5 years instead of the original fine of 400,000 rubles (approx. $7,000). The charge – justification of terrorism – was based on online comments that called for violence towards Russian leadership.

Andrey Shkolin was sentenced to 5 years for a 2020 post of a photo of Mikhail Zhlobitsky with a caption “Heros live forever.” 17 year old Zhlobitsky destroyed a Federal Security Service building in 2018 with a home-made exploding device that killed him.

Imprisonment of Ukrainian Nationals/Residents

Journalist and resident of occupied Melitopol Heorhiy Levchenko was sentenced to 16 years under the charges of treason and public calls for extremism. Levchenko administrated an RIA-Melitopol telegram channel and passed information about Russian military objects to the Ukrainian Forces. Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Russian authorities to free the Ukrainian journalist.

Ukraine national Vladyslav Gershon, who was one of the administrators of the Melitopol – it’s Ukraine Telegram channel, was sentenced to 15 years for spying, participating in a terroristic community, and committing a terrorist attack. According to the investigation, Gershon collected information on the location of Russian military objects from channel subscribers and passed it to Ukrainian Forces, which lead to a rocket attack.

Ukraine national Dilyaver Kurshutov was sentenced to 10 years and a fine of 500,000 rubles (approx. $8,700) under the charge of terrorism for allegedly preparing two explosive devices and planning to use chemicals to poison Russian military personnel.

Resident of the Donetsk People’s Republic Anton Bondarenko was sentenced to 16.5 years for posting online comments that called for “terroristic actions” and for sending information on the location of Russian military objects to Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.

63 year old Ukrainian native Roman Sabadash was sentenced to 24 years under the charge of treason. Sabadash rejected accusations that he completed training in Ukraine and was on a mission to derail a train. You can write Roman a letter here.

Imprisonment of Ukrainian Soldiers and Prisoners of War

Four captured Ukrainian military scouts Andriy Antonenko, Andriy Kulysh, Oleksiy Mazurenko, and Denys Tkachenko were sentenced to 28, 26, 27, and 26 years respectably. The defense lawyer reminded the court that the defendants could not be sued as they have a status of prisoners of war.

Sergey Yatskov was sentenced to 20 years under the charge of participation in a terrorist organization.

Members of the Aidar Battalion Denys Demyanenko and Sergey Dzyuba were sentenced to 19 and 20 years respectively.

Members of the Azov Brigade Nikolai Gurtovskiy, Bogdan Belinov, Roman Ataman, and Igor Kim were sentenced to 22, 23, 20, and 27 years respectively.

Nikita Kucher was sentenced to 14 years. Kucher fought in the Battalion of Noman Chelebidzhikhan – a Crimean Tatar group.

Imprisonment for Treason

Vlasova (no last name mentioned) was sentenced to 13 years under the charge of treason for passing information to the Ukrainian Intelligence Agency.

Imprisonment Relating to Freedom of Russia Legion and Russia Volunteer Corps (РДК)

Freedom of Russia Legion is a Ukrainian-based paramilitary unit of Russian citizens who oppose Russian invasion of Ukraine and fight for Ukraine’s sovereignty. In 2023, the Legion was designated as a “terrorist organization.” Russian Volunteer Corps is another volunteer paramilitary unit established by a far-right Russian national Denis Kupstin. The Corps is also composed of Russians who fight for Ukraine against their homeland.

21 year old Ogneslav Reich was fined 350,000 rubles (approx. $6,000) for a comment about Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).

18 year old Alexsey Shoshin was sentenced to 6 years under the charge of treason, participating in a terrorist organization, and public calls to terrorism for a conversation with Freedom of Russia Legion. You can read more about Alexey and write him a letter here.

Sergey Dudinov was sentenced to 9 years for an attempt to join Freedom of Russia Legion.

37 year old man was sentenced to 15 years for joining Freedom of Russia Legion and posting the Legion’s flyers on the headstones of fallen participants of the invasion of Ukraine.

59 year old Yuriy Sologub was sentenced to 20 years for communicating with the Freedom of Russia Legion and posting three flyers of the Legion.

19 year old Danila Bagrov was sentenced to 9 years for attempting to join Freedom of Russia Legion. He was intercepted in an airport while trying to reach Ukraine.

43 year old Nikolai Artamonov was sentenced to 9 years for attempting to join Freedom of Russia Legion and for posting a video and comments pointing out the criminal actions of Russia’s Forces in Ukraine.

23 year old Vladimir Markin was sentenced to 12 years for donating to Freedom of Russian Legion.

19 year old Vadim Tomilov was sentenced to 7 years for attempting to join the RVC.

Continued Crackdown on the LGTBQA+ Community

Twin brothers were fined 100,000 rubles (approx. $1,800) each under the charge of “LGTBQA+ propaganda” for posts in a shared travel and training Instagram blog.

Kaliningrad centre of historic reconstruction Kaup was fined 800,000 rubles (approx. $14,000) under the same charge for an event organized by a renter of the center.

Telegram bot Tribute used for donations collection refused to release the funds to the Telegram channel Wave that supports Russian emigrants over four posts that have emojis and photos of the LGTBQA+ flag.

Legal Actions Connected to The Anti-Corruption Foundation

The Anti-Corruption Foundation, established by Alexei Navalny, was categorized as “extremist” by the Russian state in 2021. Since then, Russian citizens faced legal repercussions for supporting the foundation.

Fines for Donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation

Victor Timofeev was fined 400,000 rubles (approx. $7,000) for two donations totalling 2,000 rubles (approx. $35).

Dmitriy Kazakov was fined 300,000 rubles (approx. $5,200) for two donations totalling 1,000 rubles (approx. $18).

Alexandr Protasiv was fined 500,000 rubles (approx. $8,700) for a 500 rubles (approx. $9) donation.

45 year old engineer was fined 300,000 rubles (approx. $5,200) for a donation of 2,100 rubles (approx. $37).

Imprisonment Relating to the Anti-Corruption Foundation

Konstantin Kotov was sentenced in absentia to 5 years for a 3,000 rubles (approx. $50) donation.

Valeriy Ledkov was sentenced to 3 years instead of the original fine for two donations totalling 2,100 rubles (approx. $40).

Vladimir Kim was sentenced to a 3 year conditional sentence for a 100 rubles (approx. $2) donation.

Former volunteer of Navalny headquarters Dmitriy Semenov was arrested for two 2 months for donations.

Journalist and LGTBQA+ activist Karen Shainyan was sentenced in absentia to 5 years for two donations.

Additions to the Lists by the Russian State

Additions to the Terrorism and Extremism Lists

New director of Anti-Corruption Foundation Vladislav Romantsov was added to the list of terrorists and extremists.
Song “Turn off the anthem” by the group Pornofilms was classified as extremist.