According to information from OVD-Info, the only remaining human rights organization operating underground in Russia, approximately 1,400 to 1,700 people are currently imprisoned for political reasons. OVD-Info has registered around 3,900 names of people facing political persecution. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of political prisoners has risen from a few hundred to over 1,500. The systematic criminalization of any expression of opinion that deviates from the official state line – even via social media posts—leads to prison sentences of several years. The trend is generally toward long-term criminal trials and away from short-term detentions following protests. Methods such as contingent detention in prison – called “carousel arrests” in Russia – the use of extremism laws in court proceedings, terrorism charges, proceedings for alleged discrediting of the army, the persecution and imprisonment of young people for political reasons, and the confiscation of property for alleged “crimes against the security of Russia” are cause for great concern.

The ISHR is in direct contact with some relatives of political prisoners and helps them and the persecuted, like these two:

Alexander Skobow – words are his weapon – for 40 years

“In an unjust, criminal act of aggression, words are a weapon. And if my words have an effect, then it is worth the risk,” said Alexander Skobow in his closing statement before the military court in Moscow, which sentenced him on March 21, 2025, to 16 years in prison and a fine of approximately €3,300. Of these 16 years, he will have to spend three in prison and then in a penal colony under the strict regime. Forty years earlier, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) had already featured Alexander Skobow, born on November 4, 1957, in its documentary “Psychiatry as a Political Weapon,” as a political prisoner of the Nikolskoye psychiatric hospital in the Leningrad region. As a member of the Free Trade Union Movement in the USSR (SMOT), he had criticized the policies of the Communist Party in leaflets. Because of his public criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was listed as a “foreign agent” by the Russian Ministry of Justice, arrested in St. Petersburg on April 2, 2024, and convicted in a closed trial on March 21, 2025. Despite health problems, he consistently refused to leave Russia. He repeatedly stated that his voice carried more weight within the country. For his wife Olga, visiting Alexander Skobow in the penal colony over 1,000 kilometers away north of Syktyvkar in the Komi Republic (northwest Russia) is a heavy financial burden. The ISHR has promised to help her. (Information as of February 26, 2026)

Arsenij Turbin, now 17 years old, is still locked away for over three years for distributing leaflets critical of Putin

Critical of Putin in his neighbors’ mailboxes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine , a military court in Moscow sentenced the then 15-year-old teenager Arseniy Turbin to five years in prison on June 20, 2024. In his appeal on April 7, 2024, his sentence was reduced by 24 days but otherwise upheld. Arseniy was then transferred from the Moscow pre-trial detention center to a penal colony near the city of Perm, over 1,000 kilometers from his home. On March 5, 2026, a hearing was held before the Court of Cassation (the closest equivalent to a review). Arseniy’s mother, who had already sought support from the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) in 2024, reports:

“The verdict was upheld unchanged. Arsenij’s speech was very short because he hadn’t been able to prepare. Because he hadn’t cleaned his room three times a day, he was placed in isolation; his documents were confiscated before the trial, which is not permitted. Arsenij maintained that he hadn’t known about this cleaning rule, but the court saw no grounds for postponing the hearing.”

The ISHR monitors this and similar cases of underage political prisoners and reports on the conditions of detention and the harassment these young political prisoners have to endure. The ISHR helps by co-financing legal fees, covering travel and accommodation costs for close relatives, and assisting with applications for leniency and visitation rights.