Russia has become a country of potential criminals.

A new law aims to identify and punish “pre-crimes” and “pre-criminals.”
This is Federal Law No. 182-FZ of June 23, 2016,
"On the Fundamentals of the Crime Prevention System in the Russian Federation."

This law allows virtually any Russian citizen to be placed under “preventive surveillance.”
Anyone may fall under this law if deemed by authorities — including police, investigators, prosecutors, bureaucrats, or even ordinary citizens (neighbors, co-workers) — as potentially capable of committing a crime.

All that is required is a report to the police alleging suspicion that someone may intend to commit a hypothetical crime
or appears to exhibit anti-social behavior.

These methods of denunciation are not new — they were used by:

• NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs),

• SMERSH (“Death to Spies” counterintelligence agencies during WWII), and

• Cheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage).

These Stalinist-era practices are once again being actively applied.

 

The Russian Ministry of Communications has prepared regulations in accordance with the Yarovaya Law,
requiring “information dissemination organizers” (IDOs) to store certain user data for one year,
allowing authorities to identify dissenters by IP address.

A catastrophe may not be immediate,
but we can expect a rise in criminal cases for extremism, and more persecution of opposition figures for content shared online.

 

“In Kaliningrad, investigators opened a criminal case against a 28-year-old local resident
over an online comment.
This was reported on Tuesday by Natalia Gatsko,
senior assistant to the head of the Kaliningrad Investigative Committee.”
(Source: Novy Kaliningrad)

On December 1, 2016, a man posted a comment on a news article published on a regional news portal.

“The comment posted by the suspect was, in its content, aimed at inciting hatred and enmity toward a group of individuals based on national affiliation,”
— stated the Investigative Committee.

A criminal case was initiated against the man under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
for actions committed via the Internet that are aimed at inciting hatred or enmity toward a group of persons based on nationality.
He faces up to four years of imprisonment. The criminal investigation is ongoing.
(Source: Novy Kaliningrad.Ru, August 1, 2017)

 

On July 18, 2013, following the guilty verdict against Alexei Navalny in the "Kirovles" case,
several thousand people took to Manezhnaya Square in protest, outraged by the unjust sentence.

The demonstration ended in the dispersal and arrest of participants, though they were released the same day.

Sergey Akhmetov was not among the protesters, as he was in Saint Petersburg that day.
He had registered on Facebook intending to join the rally in support of Navalny but did not travel to Moscow.
There were witnesses confirming Akhmetov’s presence in Saint Petersburg on that day.

Two and a half years later, he was arrested on allegations that he had torn off a police officer’s shoulder strap,
causing the officer physical pain.

According to the investigation, Akhmetov allegedly:

“Threatened the law enforcement officer with the use of violence,
forcibly grabbed the officer by the shoulders, tore off one of his shoulder straps,
and then fled the scene.”

The prosecution claimed this occurred in Moscow on July 18, 2013,
at the protest rally in support of Navalny.

Akhmetov was detained on November 21, 2015 at the Finnish border,
while returning to Saint Petersburg from a business trip to Germany.

He was immediately transported to Moscow and charged under Article 318.1 of the Criminal Code —
“Use of violence against a representative of authority, not endangering life or health.”

Up to that point, Akhmetov had not been in Moscow for four years (since 2011).

 

The police officer who claimed to be the victim immediately “identified” Akhmetov.
The defense argued that investigators manipulated the lineup by using a distinguishing feature —
Akhmetov’s shoes were missing shoelaces, which had been confiscated in the detention facility,
while all the stand-ins wore shoes with laces.

On November 23, Judge Elena Ermakova of the Tverskoy Court of Moscow ordered Akhmetov to be held in pretrial detention until May 11, where he has remained in custody since.

 

Ultimately, due to the lack of evidence and prolonged delays,
the court terminated the criminal prosecution
on the grounds of expiration of the statute of limitations.

In Tomsk, a Retired Woman Was Fined for a Video Appeal to Putin

A 57-year-old Tomsk resident, Galina Shergina, was fined 20,000 rubles for recording a video appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, TV2 channel reports.

The court found Shergina guilty under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses ("Violation of the procedure for organizing or conducting a gathering, rally, demonstration, march, or picketing").

On June 15, Shergina, along with twelve other Tomsk residents, recorded a video message to the Russian president near the building of the regional administration. They were trying to draw Putin's attention to corruption in law enforcement agencies.

Another participant in the video, Yekaterina Gavrilina, was also charged with violating the rules of picketing. She felt unwell in the courtroom and had to be hospitalized.
(June 23, 2017)

 

After his video appeal to Putin, Anton Tyurishev, a construction worker from the Vostochny Cosmodrome,
requested help in resolving the issue of unpaid wages, which had not been paid to the workers for more than four months.

As a result, Anton Tyurishev was arrested on fabricated charges, while the workers never received their wages.

This is not an isolated incident — individuals who turn to Putin for help often face prosecution and punishment.

 

4. Use of Torture in Russian Prisons, Abductions, and Killings.

The use of torture in Russian prisons, pre-trial detention centers, and police stations has become systematic.
Torture is applied to detainees and convicts regardless of the nature of their administrative or criminal charges.
Moreover, the use of torture has now spread into court buildings as well.

 

Human rights defenders reported torture in the basement of the Moscow City Court.

There is a room in the Moscow City Court where detainees are tortured, chained to the wall with their hands tied behind their backs, according to a report by Mediazona.
The Moscow City Court responded by saying the room was used by police officers, not court staff.

At the Preobrazhenskaya location of the Moscow City Court, in a room designated for defendants to familiarize themselves with case materials, detainees are reportedly beaten and tortured.

This was disclosed by Dmitry Piskunov, a representative of the Public Monitoring Commission and a lawyer for the Committee Against Torture, in an interview with Mediazona.

On the basement floor of the Moscow City Court, there is Room No. 144, supposedly designated for reviewing case materials.
Metal rings are attached to one of the walls, intended to handcuff a detainee by one hand, leaving the other hand free to review documents.
In practice, however, this setup is used for torture.

Several individuals contacted the Public Monitoring Commission, reporting that escorts chained them to the rings and beat them,
or simply left them squatting, handcuffed, for the entire day.

Dmitry Piskunov told Mediazona that he received an anonymous WhatsApp message with a photo showing Kamron Usmonov,
a citizen of Uzbekistan accused of armed robbery, chained in such a position.
According to Piskunov, the photo was taken by one of the guards sympathetic to Usmonov.

Beatings and Shackling of Detainees in the Moscow City Court Building

Denis Karelin, a detainee at Matrosskaya Tishina Pretrial Detention Center, also informed Dmitry Piskunov about the beatings and shackling of detainees to the wall by guards in the Moscow City Court building.

According to Karelin, on October 28, 2016, he was beaten twice in the court building. During a search, one of the guards insulted him, Karelin responded, and a scuffle broke out. During the hearing of his case, Karelin informed the court about the incident. After the session ended, he was taken to Room No. 144, where he was handcuffed to a ring and left in that position for at least an hour and a half.

“I consider such actions by the guards unacceptable,” Karelin wrote in a complaint to the Public Monitoring Commission (ONK).

Later that same day, medical staff from Detention Center No. 1 recorded that Karelin had suffered a chest contusion and facial abrasions.

According to Piskunov, the Committee Against Torture had already received previous complaints about the use of handcuffs and wall rings in Room 144 on the basement level of the Moscow City Court.

In 2015, a 60-year-old woman named Lyudmila Fadeyeva, who had been charged with fraud, also filed a similar complaint. According to her, in that same room she was shackled to the wall with her hands behind her back, beaten, and doused with cold water after she lost consciousness.

“I personally received three written complaints. One of the victims was beaten multiple times, and the next form of punishment was shackling to the hook for a long period.
Another 20 inmates confirmed to me that people they knew had also encountered those hooks in the Moscow City Court. We are currently searching for additional witnesses,” said Piskunov in an interview with RBC.

Following Fadeyeva’s complaint, a departmental investigation was launched at the initiative of the Committee Against Torture, but the lawyers were not informed of the results, with authorities citing official secrecy, as reported by Mediazona.

The press office of the Moscow Police Department refused to comment on the reports of torture in the detention area, suggesting that all questions be directed to the Moscow City Court.

Police Use Gas Spray in Detention Cells.

Police Use of Gas and Torture: Testimonies from Detainees

According to statements made by detained protesters from the June 12, 2017 rally, police used gas inside the holding cell at the 33rd police station in Saint Petersburg. The detainees complained of feeling unwell, but the police refused to call medical assistance. One of the detainees, who had hidden his mobile phone during the arrest, managed to call for medical help himself.

The detainees reported that 17 people were held for 28 hours in a cold basement, sitting on chairs. Electric shock torture is reportedly used against detainees in Russian detention centers.

 

Monologues of People Subjected to Severe Torture in One of Russia’s Most Dreaded Detention Facilities

“When I was brought into the room, I was laid on the floor, with the seat of a chair placed under my head. Then I felt wires being attached to my body—one to my right pinky finger, and the other shoved into the sock on my right foot. Without saying a word, an unknown person started electrocuting me. My entire body was convulsing, and I was banging my head against the seat under it. For about 30 minutes, I was electrocuted without a single word being spoken…”

This quote is not from 75 years ago, nor from a survivor of Gestapo torture, but from a person who was held in the 21st century in one of Russia’s most terrifying and secretive detention facilities, located in Vladikavkaz. Novaya Gazeta obtained official testimony from victims who dared to name specific law enforcement officers responsible for the torture.

 

“The Caucasian Guantanamo”

“In fact, it’s a secret prison. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s an exceptional case. It was a semi-legal facility, but for everyone accompanying us from the Prosecutor’s Office, it was no secret,” said Igor Kalyapin, member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (SPCh).

Following the visit to the detention center, the Human Rights Council prepared recommendations for law enforcement agencies. Elena Masyuk, also a Council member who visited the temporary detention center (IVS), published an article in Novaya Gazeta titled “The Caucasian Guantanamo”, which included testimonies of victims who survived torture in the Vladikavkaz detention center.

For safety reasons, the victims' names were not disclosed. However, it is important to note that:

• The victims did not know each other.

• They were held in different detention centers at the time of the interviews.

• They could not have coordinated their stories.

• Yet, their descriptions of the torture methods were identical—just like those from members of the Kushchyovskaya gang and Ukrainian nationalists previously subjected to similar practices.

(Source: Novaya Gazeta, July 22, 2017)

 

Fatal Beating in Police Custody

Suicide and Police Torture in Tatarstan

In Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, Ilnaz Pirkin committed suicide on October 19, 2017, after recording a video message in which he spoke about being tortured by officers of the Nizhnekamsk Department of the Interior Ministry.

In an attempt to deflect responsibility for driving Pirkin to suicide, the police tried to force two arrested and beaten men to confess that they were the ones who allegedly caused Pirkin’s suicide.

“Following Pirkin’s suicide, the Investigative Committee launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the suicides of seven other individuals who had come into contact with Nizhnekamsk police in recent years.”

Additionally, the Prosecutor’s Office of Tatarstan reviewed citizen complaints about torture at the Nizhnekamsk Interior Ministry over the previous two years. Based on the results of this review, the prosecutor demanded that the Investigative Committee initiate three criminal cases against the police officers — two for using "unlawful methods of investigation" and one for concealing a crime.

 

Lawlessness in Chechnya

On the night of January 26, 2017, a mass extrajudicial execution reportedly took place in Chechnya, resulting in the death of 27 individuals.

“…All 27 had been detained in January during mass arrests in various districts of Chechnya, which began after December 17, 2016. No official protocols were filed, and no charges were brought against them. Instead, they were held in basements and utility rooms of police stations.”

A source in the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs provided a list of residents detained in January to the editors of Novaya Gazeta. According to the list, the largest number of detainees — 28 people — were from the town of Shali. Novaya Gazeta was able to identify their addresses, but could not determine their subsequent fate.

“All attempts to learn anything about these people’s whereabouts were met with overwhelming fear from our sources. One city administration official from Shali refused to even look at the list of names we compiled and said:

‘Everyone who was detained in Shali in January — they’re gone. Don’t look for them.’”
(Novaya Gazeta)

 

Why We Publish This

“We are publishing these facts because the state, through its authorized law enforcement agencies, has left us no choice.

For two months, we hoped for cooperation, which at first showed signs of effectiveness. Today, it is clear that the Investigative Committee of Russia is retreating from this case, just as it backed away from the Boris Nemtsov assassination.

That is why we are now publishing the list of those who, according to our data, became victims of what may be the most horrifying extrajudicial execution in Grozny. And now, the investigation, which cites the absence of living complainants, will have to deal with special kinds of witnesses.

Because only the dead have **nothing left to fear in Chechnya.”
(Novaya Gazeta)

Publishing the list:

1. Abdulmezhidov Adam Isaevich, born May 27, 1987

2. Abumuslimov Apti Khasanovich, born February 6, 1989, city of Shali, Shkolnaya Street, 16

3. Abdulkerimov Said-Ramzan Ramzanovich, born March 25, 1990, registered at: village of Kurchaloy, Dokhtukaeva Street, 18

4. Alimkhanov Islam Alievich, born June 7, 1998

5. Abubakarov Adam Dzhabrailovich, born May 5, 1995

6. Bergaev Ismail Shadidovich, born August 19, 1998

7. Dasaev Adam Ilyasovich, born June 16, 1988, city of Shali

8. Djabaev Zelimkhan Khizirovich, born December 18, 1993

9. Ilyasov Adam Kuseinovich, born September 22, 1997

10. Lugaev Rizvan Said-Khamzatovich, born September 13, 1987, city of Shali

11. Malikov Rizvan Agdanovich, born June 1, 1990

12. Muskiyev Mokhma Turpalovich, born July 19, 1988, registered at: village of Tsotsi-Yurt, Novaya Street, 10

13. Muskhanov Temirlan Akhmatovich, born April 28, 1986, city of Shali, Chicherina Street, 2

14. Ozdiyev Usman Vakhaevich, born December 24, 1989, registered at: city of Shali, Groznenskaya Street, 39

15. Rashidov Doku Ibragimovich, born May 30, 1995

16. Siriyev Magomed Musaevich, born February 23, 1993

17. Soltakhmanov Ismail Ezer-Alievich, born March 30, 1994, registered at: village of Mayrtup, Nuradilova Street

18. Suleymanov Magomed Arbiyevich, born January 3, 1987, city of Shali, Kavkaz settlement, building 8, apartment 4

19. Tuchayev Akhmed Ramzanovich, born February 23, 1987, city of Shali, Shkolnaya Street, 30

20. Khabuyev Khamzat Slaudinovich, born February 14, 1993

21. Khimidov Alvi Aslambekovich, born November 16, 1992

22. Khamidov Shamil Akhmedovich, born November 14, 1986

23. Tsikmayev Ayub Sultanovich, born April 2, 1984, village of Germenchuk, Molodezhnaya Street

24. Shapiev Muslim Isaevich, born November 28, 1989, registered at: city of Shali, Kutuzova Street, 12

25. Eskarbiyev Saikhan Vakhamsoltovich, born May 23, 1992

26. Yusupov Sakhab Isaevich, born January 19, 1990

27. Yusupov Shamkhan Shaikhovich, born June 17, 1988, registered at: village of Kurchaloy, Sovetskaya Street, 11

 

According to the information we have, those detained that night were executed and their bodies distributed across various cemeteries, including Christian ones, and buried in hastily dug graves (some of these burial sites are known to Novaya Gazeta).

A thorough examination of the list of detainees leads to the conclusion that the decision to carry out the extrajudicial executions was made centrally and, strangely enough, spontaneously. However, this is precisely how key decisions are made in today’s Chechnya...

The parents of the detained and missing sons, who were abducted at night and taken to unknown locations by officers of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, submitted a petition to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Chechen Republic, N.S. Nukhadzhiev, requesting help in locating them... The petition was signed by 13 mothers and fathers, including their phone numbers and home addresses.

According to Novaya Gazeta, in recent days, all of these individuals were forced to sign statements claiming that their sons “went to fight in Syria” and that they “have no complaints against the Chechen police officers.”

The institutionalized lawlessness in the Chechen Republic is tied to its special status within the Russian Federation. In effect, the “Chechen Republic” functions as a state within a state, with its own laws and leadership under President Ramzan Kadyrov — known for his hardline demeanor and his past as a militant who fought against Russian forces during the First Chechen War.

Kadyrov is able to make unpunished public statements on behalf of Russia regarding various international matters, while President Putin dares not challenge him — because Kadyrov serves as Putin’s personal force instrument. The Chechen army under his control is used to suppress uprisings within Russia and to participate in military operations in conflict zones like Ukraine and Syria.

For example, in an interview with the American TV network HBO, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that the United States is pursuing a policy directed against the Russian leadership. Kadyrov declared that Russia possesses nuclear weapons and, in the event of war, could "turn the entire world upside down." He added that “America is not a strong enough state for us to consider it a real enemy of Russia.”
“We are a strong state and a nuclear power. Even if our country is completely destroyed, our missiles will automatically be launched. We’ll turn the world upside down,” he said.

Kadyrov accused the U.S. of pursuing an anti-Russian policy and added:
“I have a strong army that can attack and defend. We’ll see what comes of it.”

 

The practice of abductions by officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs occurs not only in Chechnya, but also in other regions of Russia.
In Kaliningrad, police officers abducted volunteer Vladimir Neman on the day of the nationwide protest rally on October 7, 2017.

“I didn’t even make it to the store when a car pulled up and two men jumped out from behind. I didn’t even have time to react. They grabbed me by the arms and shoved me into the car,” said Vladimir.

According to him, of the several people involved in the detention, only one identified himself—a district officer named Khachatur Petrosyan, who was in uniform. No documents were presented explaining the reason for the detention. Furthermore, his mobile phone was taken, and he was not allowed to contact either his family or a lawyer.

The young man said that after being detained, he was driven toward the village of Pregolsky, while the officers made “joking comments”:

“Once we left the city, I asked where we were going. They said, ‘We’re taking you to the woods to your friends.’ Then they joked, ‘We’ll drop you off on some island so you all can protest there together—on the island, on the Pregolya River.’”

After a so-called “preventive conversation” about his opposition activity, Nemanov was driven to the Interior Ministry building at 2 Galkovskogo Street. Upon arrival, Vladimir Nemanov seized the moment and escaped from the police.

“I was yelling ‘Help, save me! I’m being held against my will! I’m from Navalny’s headquarters!’ I shouted exactly what was happening. I was in an unmarked vehicle, I had no idea who was taking me or where. They took me to Pregolsky. It was completely outside the legal framework. I considered it an abduction,” Vladimir recalled.

He then ran into a nearby store where a surveillance camera was installed and asked a staff member to call the police. However, his pursuers caught up with him.

“They stormed in after me, yelling, and threatened to kill me, swearing, saying they’d f*** me up and that I wouldn’t walk out of there alive,” said the young man.

Inside the store, the officers twisted his arms and took him again to the police station on Galkovskogo Street. According to Vladimir, passersby did not react to his cries for help. One of the officers slapped him twice in the face.

Nemanov was held for more than three hours. He refused to sign any protocol, citing Article 51 of the Russian Constitution (the right not to testify against oneself). According to him, a case file had already been compiled at the station, containing documents related to him, Navalny's campaign coordinator Yegor Chernyuk, and other supporters of Alexei Navalny. (Source: Free Kaliningrad, October 10, 2017)

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