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On the morning of 12 October, officers from Centre “E” visited activist Maksim Chikhunov and took him to the police station, reports RusNews. According to NewsBox24, the law enforcement officers’ complaint is linked to a 2020 post featuring the image “I/WE Sergei Furgal.” At that time, Chikhunov published an announcement for a rally in support of the governor of Khabarovsk Krai. Now, the activist is facing an administrative protocol for displaying “extremist” symbols (Article 20.3 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences).
The “I/WE Sergei Furgal” movement was recognised as an “extremist” organisation and banned in Russia in February 2024, almost four years after Chikhunov’s post. At the same time, “Novaya Gazeta” noted that there was no registered organisation by this name, and the phrase “I/WE Sergei Furgal” was used as a protest slogan.
- Previously, Maksim Chikhunov was prosecuted for hooliganism over a video in which he pretended to fire a grenade launcher tube at a memorial plaque dedicated to White Army general Mikhail Diterikhs. He was initially given a suspended sentence of one year, but following an appeal by the prosecutor’s office, the sentence was increased to three and a half years in a penal colony. Later, the court of cassation overturned the custodial sentence, and Chikhunov was released from pre-trial detention.
- Sergei Furgal was detained in July 2020, after which months-long protests broke out in Khabarovsk Krai in his support. In 2023 the former governor was sentenced to 22 years in a penal colony for allegedly organising murders. Later, in a second case—on forming a criminal group and large-scale fraud, he was given an additional sentence. In total, Furgal received 25 years in a strict-regime penal colony, according to “Mediazona.”
13 October, 10:54 A court in Primorye fined Chikhunov one thousand rubles (about US$10) under the case of “displaying extremist symbols,” reports RusNews.
This article has been updated to reflect new information about Chikhunov’s fine.