Former Communist Party State Duma deputy Oleg Mikhailov has been remanded in a pre-trial detention centre over a case concerning the justification of terrorism.

The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has remanded Oleg Mikhailov, first secretary of the Komi branch of the Communist Party and former State Duma deputy, in a pre-trial detention centre until 21 December. This was reported by the party’s Telegram channel.

Mikhailov was detained on 21 October in Moscow after returning from holiday. He is accused of making public calls for terrorism, justifying or promoting it online (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). The Communist Party believes the reason for the case was a 2024 post by Mikhailov related to the sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky.

State Duma Communist Party deputy Yuri Sinelshchikov noted that the post associated with Mikhailov’s case appeared back in 2024, but criminal proceedings began only after Mikhailov lost his parliamentary seat. According to Sinelshchikov, the security forces might have been waiting for his parliamentary immunity to expire.

“Law enforcement officers just sat and waited for the person to lose their status as a deputy, and then set up… Well, maybe I’m hasty to use the word ‘reprisal,’ but, so to speak, an investigation,” said Sinelshchikov.

Mikhailov heads the Communist Party branch in Komi, a region in north-west Russia, and until recently was a State Duma deputy. He has been repeatedly fined for public activism. In 2019, he was fined after a rally against a landfill at Shies, where participants marched to the Komi governor’s office to hand over a resolution. In 2021, he received a fine of 75,000 rubles (about US$800) for meeting voters in central Syktyvkar, the capital of Komi.

In the September 2026 State Duma elections, Mikhailov lost his parliamentary seat. During the campaign, he openly spoke out for peace, including during televised debates.