The court rejected artist Lyudmila Razumova’s lawsuit challenging the legality of her transfer to a strict detention unit (SUS).

On 10 June, the Vyshnevolotsk Interdistrict Court of the Tver region refused to rule unlawful the transfer of convicted artist Lyudmila Razumova to strict detention conditions (SUS). This was reported by her OVD-Info lawyer, Andrey Donskoy.

In March 2023, Razumova was sentenced to seven years in a general regime colony for charges of spreading “fake news” about the military (clause “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) and vandalism (part 2, article 214 of the Criminal Code). She was accused over anti-war graffiti and posts.

The artist regularly faces pressure in Penal Colony No. 5, Tver region. She has repeatedly been placed in punishment cells (SHIZO) and cell-type facilities (PKT). In October 2024, it became known that the woman was transferred to SUS. In November 2024, Razumova was taken to a prison hospital after a nervous breakdown, which occurred as a result of poor living conditions, constant cold, exhausting work, and back pain. She had not received necessary medical care before then.

During the court hearing on her lawsuit, Razumova described the detention conditions. She spoke about the lack of hot water and food, faulty wiring, absence of medical care, rotten window frames, and constant foul smells. However, the court ruled Razumova’s transfer to SUS to be lawful.

• The persecution of Lyudmila Razumova began in March 2022. At that time, the artist and her then-husband Aleksandr Martynov were sent to a pre-trial detention centre on charges of spreading “fake news” about the military out of “political hatred” (clause “d,” part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Razumova was accused over six posts on Odnoklassniki with videos of the Russian army shelling Ukrainian civilians and destroying towns. In some of them, Russian soldiers were referred to as “rashists” and “vatofashiZts.” Martynov was accused over his own posts about the war on the same social network.
• Later, the former couple were accused of vandalism (part 2, article 214 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, they left slogans saying “Putler kaput,” “Ukraine, forgive us,” “Peace to Ukraine,” and “Putin is war,” as well as stencil images “merging V. V. Putin and A. Hitler,” on buildings in villages in the Tver region. Martynov was sentenced to six and a half years in a colony.
• In April this year, it became known that a new criminal case had been opened against Lyudmila Razumova, for allegedly attacking another inmate in a prison hospital in the Tver region. She was charged with causing minor injury with an object used as a weapon (clause “v,” part 2, article 115 of the Criminal Code) following a domestic conflict with another prisoner, Kseniya Nabatchikova. In response to Nabatchikova’s aggression, Razumova splashed her with hot water, after which Nabatchikova began beating and strangling the artist with the cord from a water heater. As a result, Razumova lost consciousness. The artist believes Nabatchikova was deliberately placed in her cell to provoke a conflict.