Police detain resident of Astrakhan at monument to victims of repression

In Astrakhan, the police detained Maria Poplavskaya, who laid flowers at the monument to the victims of political repression. After a conversation at a police station, the young woman was released with a warning.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that after the death of Alexei Navalny*, residents of the country’s cities, including in Southern Russia, were persecuted for attempting to honour the memory of the victims of repression.

On February 17, in Astrakhan, the police detained Maria Poplavskaya after she laid flowers at the monument to the victims of political repression.

“Maria Poplavskaya said that as soon as she put down the flowers and walked away from the monument, four men in civilian clothes ran up to her and detained her. They seized her mobile phone and took her to a police station,” the human rights project “OVD-Info”** reports.

Law enforcers looked through the contents of the detainee’s mobile phone, conducted a conversation, and released her with a warning.

*On January 25, 2022, the “Rosfinmonitoring” (the Russian Federal Service for Financial Monitoring) included Alexei Navalny into the register of extremists and terrorists. He is a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. Convicted on probation in a case on fraud. In February 2021, the term was replaced with imprisonment. In a penal colony, Alexei Navalny was charged with fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, Alexei Navalny was also sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment in a case on disorganizing the penal colony, extremism, and rehabilitation of Nazism. In April 2023, Alexei Navalny announced that he faced life imprisonment in the case on terrorism. Recognized as a “prisoner of conscience.” The “Caucasian Knot” material “Navalny: Caucasian Dimension” sets out the oppositionist’s views on the problems related to the Caucasus. The Alexei Navalny’s offices, which previously operated in the Russian regions, are recognized in Russia as extremist organizations and included in the list of prohibited organizations.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.