Switch Language

A new criminal case has been opened against Andrey Yedigaryev, a 64-year-old former city council deputy from Glazov (a city in Udmurtia, in the western Urals): this time under charges of violent seizure of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code) and organising a terrorist community (Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing law enforcement agencies.

The agency’s source stated that between 2022 and 2023, Yedigaryev took part in the activities of Ilya Ponomarev’s “Congress of People’s Deputies,” which is recognised in Russia as a terrorist organisation. The Lefortovo Court in Moscow has remanded the politician in custody until May.

Yedigaryev was brought from a penal colony to Moscow to give testimony as a witness on 11 October 2025, and the questioning took place in October. He spent over five months in Lefortovo remand prison, despite the Penal Enforcement Code allowing a convicted person transferred from a colony for investigative actions in another case to be held in a remand centre for no more than three months.

Because of this violation, on 21 January the politician began a hunger strike, which lasted until 24 February and was ended due to kidney problems. During the hunger strike, he lost almost 10 kilograms.

You can support Andrey Yedigaryev by sending him a letter via our “Vestočka” service.

  • In 2024, Yedigaryev was sentenced to three years in a penal colony on charges of inciting terrorism (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). The case was opened because of his posts and comments criticising Putin and the invasion of Ukraine: “looking at burning vehicles and burning lads, tears come to my eyes. Adolf Putin you are a corpse,” “so, Putin’s bastards, are you ready to go and die? Ukrainian bullets are waiting for you,” “we are living in a fascist state. In Hitler’s Mein Kampf, there are clear parallels with the regime under Putin that has existed for more than 25 years.” In one comment, Yedigaryev called for the overthrow of the authorities.
  • The politician has been in detention since May 2023. He reported that when he was detained, officers hit him in the face, stomach and groin, and pushed his face into the dirt.