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On 27 May, the Northern Fleet Military Court found 23-year-old student Rafael Mamedov guilty under articles on state treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a terrorist organisation (Part 2 of Article 205.5). This was reported by his support group’s Telegram channel (OVD-Info drew attention to the post).
The first three years of the sentence must be served in prison, with the remainder in a high-security penal colony.
The prosecutor had requested an 18-year sentence for Mamedov. The student denied all charges.
Mamedov was detained and placed in a remand centre in spring 2025. Initially, he was only accused of participating in a terrorist organisation.
His friend said that the charges were linked to his role as administrator of the Telegram channel “Free Laplandia.” The channel published memes, photos, facts from the history and mythology of the region. In addition, it featured posts critical of the Russian authorities and discussions about the need to preserve the cultural identity of the peoples of north-western Russia, their alliance, and alliances with the countries of Northern Europe.
At the beginning of 2025, “Free Laplandia” was added to the list of terrorist organisations as a structural unit of the “Forum of Free States of Post-Russia.” Shortly before that, the Forum itself was designated a terrorist organisation. Alongside it, this status was given to over 170 organisations, which the Supreme Court of Russia named as its structural subdivisions.
In May 2026, a new charge was brought against Mamedov: state treason. According to his support group’s channel, this article was applied to him because of the same publications:
“According to investigators, these materials allegedly caused harm to the Russian Federation. However, these are public texts that had already been the subject of persecution.”
The support group also emphasised that the channel never published calls for terrorism or violence.
The support group clarified to OVD-Info that security forces charged Mamedov under both articles because of his administration of the “Free Laplandia” channel and publication there of the article “Orange Aristocracy: On the Post-Russian Elite” as well as two more articles—“Decolonisation Strategies” and “Regional Conflicts”—on the website of the Coalition for Freedom from Imperial Tyrants.
The project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” recognised Mamedov as a political prisoner. Human rights defenders consider the ban on the “Forum of Free States of Post-Russia” unlawful and the charges against Mamedov to be unfounded. In their view, one reason for the student’s prosecution was his anti-war stance—the interrogation protocol begins with Mamedov’s testimony about his critical views on the Russian authorities and the invasion of Ukraine.
2 June The press service of the Northern Fleet Military Court claims that Mamedov carried out assignments for the head of the “Alliance/Coalition (of Indigenous Peoples),” which allegedly acted “in the interests of the Security Service of Ukraine.”
The student is alleged to have posted on his channel in 2023–2025, on this person’s instructions, information “about recruiting informants and scouts to collect data on military facilities and troop movement routes,” as well as drafting articles “aimed at destabilising the situation in the country.”
- While in detention, the student attempted suicide twice. In September 2025, in the remand centre, he inflicted cuts to his neck and arms. Then, while being transferred between facilities, Mamedov tried to hang himself with a belt but was stopped by an escort. His first suicide attempt took place shortly before his arrest, in May 2025. He was detained by FSB officers a few days later in a psychiatric hospital.
- Before his arrest, Mamedov was a third-year student at Murmansk Arctic University, majoring in digital sociology.
The news item has been updated with accusation details provided by Mamedov’s support group