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Officers from the “E” Centre in Lipetsk Region threatened human rights defender Gennady Makarov with a criminal case for treason and demanded that he testify against former MP Pavel Sokolov. Makarov told ASTRA about this.
Makarov and his 75-year-old mother are listed as witnesses in a criminal case of defamation against Lipetsk Region Governor Igor Artamonov. In October 2025, searches were carried out at their home, during which security officers seized phones, a laptop, a desktop computer, flash drives, and a voice recorder. According to the human rights defender, the equipment has not yet been returned to them.
After the search, Makarov was taken to Lipetsk, a city in western Russia, and held overnight in the criminal investigation building. He claims the officers demanded he write a confession and give evidence against Sokolov, and if he refused, they threatened to fabricate a treason case and “dunk his head in the toilet.”
The criminal defamation case, with charges of committing a serious crime (Part 5, Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code), was opened on 29 October 2025. According to Makarov, it is linked to shares of an episode of “Besogon TV” by Nikita Mikhalkov, in which Governor Artamonov was accused of extorting 40 million roubles (approximately US$440,000) from a local businessman. Makarov himself denies making those shares.
The searches of Makarov and his mother were formally carried out as part of a criminal intelligence operation under the article on mass unrest; however, the seized devices were later attached to the defamation case. In December, prosecutors in Yelets, a town in Lipetsk Region, refused to recognise the opening of the case as unlawful.