Criminal cases, arrests and torture. How are communists persecuted in Russia?
In Novosibirsk, a criminal case was opened against the communist Sergei Krupenko for repeated "defamation" of the army. And his colleague Oleg Metzler, who is a witness in the case, said that the security forces tortured him, and demanded passwords to his phone and computer.
According to Metzler, they knocked him to the floor, handcuffed him, twisted his hands and feet and pinned his knee to his spine. When he started calling for help, the security forces blocked his mouth and nose three times, and did not allow him to breathe for 30-50 seconds, the activist said.
Why was the case filed?
Krupenko was persecuted because he spoke at an agreed rally on May Day. There he criticized the war in Ukraine and asked why the children of high-ranking Russian officials were not sent to the front.
This is not the first such case: in 2025, a communist was fined 30 thousand rubles for speaking at another rally on May Day. He now faces up to five years in prison.
RCP(i), whose members are Krupenko and Mzler, is an unregistered left-wing association that opposes the war in Ukraine. Organizationally, it is not affiliated with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
Who else was persecuted during the last two months?
Dzhamali Gogoli, Novorossiysk. A member of the election commission from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was arrested for ten days in an affair two years ago. The party attributes this to his work to protect fair elections.
Dmitry Morozov, Izvesk. He called for a rally against election violations and ended up in jail on drug charges. His girlfriend said that the security forces beat the activist, hit him with a stun gun and hung him by his feet.
About 60 participants in the action of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Moscow. In October they were arrested after a rally commemorating the events of 1993. Nine were later fined, and four more were placed in administrative detention.
Oleg Mikhailov, comedian. A former Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was sent to a pre-trial detention center on charges of justifying terrorism. The party assumes that the case is related to his publication about the sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky.