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On 27 May, the Northern Fleet Military Court found 23-year-old student Rafael Mamedov guilty under charges of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a terrorist organisation (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the Telegram channel run by his support group (the post was noted by OVD-Info).
The first three years of the sentence must be served in prison, with the remainder to be spent in a high-security penal colony.
The prosecutor had requested an 18-year prison term for Mamedov. The student did not admit guilt.
Mamedov was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) in spring 2025. Initially, he was only accused of participating in a terrorist organisation.
His friend said the charges were linked to his role as an administrator of the Telegram channel “Free Laplandiya.” The channel published memes, photographs, and facts from the history and mythology of the region. In addition, the channel featured posts critical of the Russian authorities and discussions about the need to preserve the cultural identity of peoples in Russia’s north-western regions, their alliance, and alliances with the countries of Northern Europe.
In early 2025, the “Free Laplandiya” channel was included in a list of terrorist organisations as a structural unit of the “Forum of Free States of Post-Russia.” Shortly before this, the Forum was declared a terrorist organisation. At the same time, more than 170 organisations were given this status by the Russian Supreme Court, designating them as its structural subdivisions.
In May 2026, Mamedov was formally charged with a new offence—treason. According to the channel run by his support group, this article was brought against him for the same publications:
“According to investigators, these materials allegedly harmed the Russian Federation. These are public texts that have already previously been subject to prosecution.”
The support group also insisted that the channel never published calls for terrorism or violence.
The support group clarified to OVD-Info that law enforcement charged Mamedov under both articles because of his administration of the “Free Laplandiya” channel and the publication therein of the article “Orange Aristocracy: On the Post-Russian Elite” as well as two other 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” to be unlawful and the charge brought against Mamedov to be groundless. In their view, one reason for the student’s prosecution was his anti-war stance—the interrogation protocol begins with Mamedov’s statement about his critical attitude towards the Russian authorities and the invasion of Ukraine.
- During his detention, the student twice attempted to take their own life. In September 2025, while in the detention centre, he inflicted cuts to his neck and arms. Then, while being transferred between facilities, Mamedov attempted to hang himself with a belt, but was stopped by a guard. The first suicide attempt took place shortly before the arrest, in May 2025. FSB officers detained him several days later while he was in a psychiatric-neurological clinic.
- Before his detention, Mamedov was a third-year student at Murmansk Arctic University, majoring in “digital sociology.”
The news has been updated with information on the charges provided by Mamedov’s support group