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In the early hours of 7 May, 41-year-old Vladimir Yarotsky died by suicide in Penal Colony No. 9 in Khadyzhensk, Krasnodar region, southern Russia. This was reported by SOTAvision, citing a letter from another inmate, and by “Politzek-Info”.
Alexander Nozdrinov, who is held in the same colony, wrote in his letter that Yarotsky had reported being pressured by the prison administration. Yarotsky was made to work night shifts despite health issues that should have prevented this. After he asked for a change in working conditions, he reportedly faced further pressure.
Last spring, Yarotsky was sentenced to five and a half years in a standard regime penal colony on charges of spreading “military fakes” (Article 207.3, Part 2, Clause d of the Criminal Code) and desecrating symbols of military glory (Article 354.1, Part 4 of the Criminal Code).
Yarotsky, a resident of Krasnodar (a major city in southern Russia), was accused of spreading “fakes” over a social media post made in September 2022. According to investigators, he “published false and unsubstantiated information about the number of Russian Armed Forces personnel killed or missing in Ukraine.”
The desecration charge was brought over an image Yarotsky posted on his VKontakte page: in it, an artist is painting a portrait of Vladimir Putin from life, but the canvas shows a penis. Both Putin and the penis have a Saint George’s ribbon tied in a bow. The caption beneath the image reads: “Intelligent people see that Putin is burying Russia alive, while fools are convinced that he is saving it…”
In 2024, Yarotsky was convicted in another case—of incitement to terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2 of the Criminal Code). Investigators alleged he published a post calling for “an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation, with the aim of stopping his activities and the special military operation.” For this, Yarotsky was fined 350,000 rubles (approximately US$3,750).