The historian Yuri Dmitriev was sent to a punishment cell for 13 days because he sat on his bed.

The historian Yuri Dmitriev, who was transferred at the end of July to Correctional Medical Facility No. 3 in Mordovia for a scheduled examination, was placed in a punishment cell for 13 days, reports “Bumaga.”

Dmitriev was put in the punishment cell (SHIZO) on 1 August because, feeling dizzy, he sat on his bed ten minutes before it was officially permitted.

“It is clear that the administration of LIU-3 chose to mark the Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Great Terror in this way. For Yuri Dmitriev, this day has always held special significance: on 5 August for the past 20 years he has organised remembrance events in Sandarmokh—a secluded area in Karelia, where over 6,000 innocent people were killed in 1937–1938,” believes the Memorial Society.

Elizaveta Chernyavskaya, a member of Dmitriev’s support group, told “Bumaga” that recently Dmitriev has found sitting to be painful, he has had urinary issues, and medical staff “by touch” diagnosed him with a prostate tumour. There is no definite diagnosis—at LIU-3, where Dmitriev is sent once a year for examination, there is neither an oncologist nor a urologist.

On 12 August, Dmitriev’s support group’s Telegram channel reported that “a tumour was cut out of his back,” and that he is being given injections and tablets.

Back in January, the Memorial Society reported that for the past two years, doctors at IK-18 in Mordovia, where he is serving his sentence, have said he needs to undergo oncological examination due to a growing tumour. Human rights defenders have not specified the location of the tumour.

During his imprisonment, Dmitriev has repeatedly been sent to the punishment cell. In January and June he was sent there for “incorrect” or “poor” performance of morning exercises. The 69-year-old Dmitriev made several unsuccessful requests for the IK-18 doctor to excuse him from exercise, as he finds them difficult due to dizziness and weakness. He has previously been sent to SHIZO for sitting on his bed at times when it was not allowed.

• In 2021, Dmitriev was sentenced to 15 years in a strict-regime colony on charges of manufacturing pornography (subclause “v” of part 2 of article 242.2 of the Criminal Code), violent sexual acts (subclause “b” of part 4 of article 132), lewd acts (part 3 of article 135), and possession of weapons (part 1 of article 222). The last charge concerned fragments of a hunting rifle found at his home, and the rest were based on photographs of his adopted daughter which, according to investigators, were taken “for the purpose of creating pornographic materials.” Dmitriev insisted he took the photographs only to monitor the girl’s development for medical reasons. Memorial has recognised him as a political prisoner.
• Before his arrest, Dmitriev headed the Karelia branch of Memorial. The historian is well-known for discovering the mass grave of Stalinist repression victims in Sandarmokh, Karelia, in 1997.