Mikhail Kriger, an activist in Moscow, has announced a dry hunger strike.

Moscow activist Mikhail Kriger has announced a dry hunger strike. This was reported by the Telegram channel run by his support group.

On 9 October, the 65-year-old activist was transferred from the punishment ward (SHIZO) at Correctional Colony No. 5 in Oryol region to a solitary cell. There, among other restrictions, he will be limited in making phone calls. The detainee insists on being returned to the general ward.

The prison administration has stated that as soon as the convicted person becomes “unwell enough,” he will be sent to the medical unit for forced feeding. For now, he is being visited twice a day by a doctor.

Kriger had been on an ordinary hunger strike since 25 September, demanding to be returned to his general ward from the punishment cell; the activist had been held in the punishment cell since 9 September. The authorities kept Kriger in segregation allegedly for his own safety. The SHIZO cell had no heating, despite the cold weather outside.

The activist is confident that he faces no threat in the colony. In his view, the administration is isolating him to prevent communication with other inmates.

• Kriger has been in detention since November 2022. He was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony on charges of inciting extremism (Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) over posts in which he wrote about “fierce hatred for the regime” and the attacks on FSB buildings in Arkhangelsk (a city in northern Russia) and Moscow. The activist believes that this is only a formal pretext for prosecution, and the real reason was his anti-war and pro-Ukrainian position.