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Ekaterina Wagner, who was detained at Bolotnaya Square, was not released from the detention centre when her arrest period ended, reports SOTAvision.

Her relatives told the outlet that Wagner had been hospitalised from the detention centre. She spent several days in hospital. These days were not counted towards her administrative detention period, so Wagner will only be released from the detention centre on 18 April.

According to the outlet, new charges have been pressed against the Moscow resident—for violating the regulations on holding a public event (Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).

Wagner was detained at Bolotnaya Square on 29 March along with her nephew, Artur Wagner. He said that police used force against him at the station and made him give testimony against his aunt. He himself was released without any charges.

Today, three people detained at Bolotnaya Square were released from the Sakharovo detention centre: Mikael Markaryan, Yaroslav Polyakov, and a young man who requested anonymity.

Polyakov said that after being detained, he was beaten, and he was also forced to reveal his phone password.

“When we were detained at Bolotnaya Square and put into a vehicle, two men in plain clothes arrived: we were beaten, our phones taken, they tried to get our passwords. They told me I was working with the Anti-Corruption Foundation, because ‘this protest was organised by the Foundation.’ They said I was facing ‘extremism’ charges, but if I showed them my phone, they’d see I was a ‘good person,’ that I just happened to be in the wrong place, they’d look at my phone and then let me go home. One played the good cop, the other the bad cop,” he said.

Polyakov was not given his SIM card back after his arrest. He does not live in Moscow, and now, as RusNews notes, he will have to make his way home with no means of communication.

20-year-old Varvara Luch from Volzhsky, a city on the Volga River, was detained over alleged “LGBT propaganda” in her social media accounts.

According to the comment from the young woman’s lawyer, the reason was an “old humorous video” featuring “a brief appearance of a photo of Olga Buzova with a colourful flag.”

On 25 March, the Vakhitovsky District Court in Kazan fined the moderator of the “Scarlet Swan” chat group, Mikhail Tolkin, 20,000 rubles (approx. US$220) in a case concerning the organisation of an unauthorised rally (under Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offences Code). This was noted by 7×7.

The Centre for Combating Extremism (“Centre E”) called Tolkin the “main moderator” of the “Scarlet Swan” chat and accused him of spreading calls for unauthorised rallies across the country. The young man pleaded guilty.

The Adler District Court in Sochi fined Viktoria Krivoshchapova, a moderator of the “Alyi Lebed” (“Scarlet Swan”) chat, 15,000 roubles (approximately US$160) under the article on organising an unauthorised rally (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offences Code). The court’s decision was reported by the 7×7 news outlet.

The decision was issued on 27 March, two days before rallies against internet blocks were planned in different cities across Russia.

Krivoshchapova was accused of encouraging chat members to join a protest in Moscow against the blocking of Telegram.

“At the same time, notification of the public event was not filed in accordance with the established procedure, and the rally itself was planned to be held at Bolotnaya Square without approval from the public authorities,” the court decision said.

The document shows that Krivoshchapova attended the hearing without legal representation. She pleaded guilty.

On 29 March in Yekaterinburg, a major city in the Urals, police detained three people at 1905 Square, reports Mediazona. Two days earlier, a newly created Telegram channel called “The Scarlet Swan Yekaterinburg” claimed that the city authorities had approved a rally at this square against the blocking of Telegram, although there was no official information about the event.

Police detained a 17-year-old college student, his 18-year-old acquaintance, and their friend. On 29 March, they were out walking in the city centre when they noticed a security officer taking their photograph. According to the teenagers, they did not know a rally had been announced at 1905 Square and were not intending to participate.

“We stood there for about three minutes. We were already about to leave to go about our business. But at around 15:25, officers approached us and took us aside. We answered all their questions and showed our passports. We were asked if we knew about the rally, but we said we knew nothing about it. We were not rude and did not provoke them,” the student said.

The police asked them to unlock their phones and show their photo gallery. The student said he had forgotten his phone code. After this, he was struck on the leg, stomach and face, and also received “a very powerful slap in the face.” When he tried to break free, his t-shirt and bag were torn.

He and his friend were detained, but their 18-year-old companion managed to escape. Those detained were taken to Police Department No. 9. The girl was soon released together with a social worker. No charge sheet was drawn up against her, but security officers did examine her phone.

The 17-year-old student was charged with disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). The official report claimed the teenagers had been filming the security officers and said they were taking part in the rally. The police accused the student of failing to show his passport and refusing to hand over his phone—which, in their view, constituted disobedience.

According to the student, at the police station he eventually did unlock his phone. One of the security officers tried to find “something political.” After this, the detainee was held for 48 hours at a temporary detention centre for minors.

On 31 March, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court rejected a police request to keep the student at the centre for a further 30 days. The police had claimed this was necessary in order to transfer him to his parents, who live in another region.

The 18-year-old friend who had managed to evade police went to the station himself on 30 March to collect his passport. He reported being beaten by security officers: “One blow to the chest, a couple of times on the back, grabbed by the neck and swung around the room, maybe hit somewhere else too, but I don’t remember.” The channel “Libertarianism in the Urals” writes that he was beaten by officers from the Centre “E.” They threatened to “smash [his] face in” and called him a “poodle.”

“The ‘defenders against extremism’ gave as their reason for the beatings and threats their hurt feelings after unlawfully reading Mikhail’s private messages, where he commented on his own detention,” the channel reports.

A disobedience protocol was also drawn up against the 18-year-old detainee. He was fined two thousand roubles (approx. US$22).

At this time, OVD-Info is aware of 27 people detained in various Russian cities at venues where rallies against blockings have taken place or were planned.

“[I] was just sitting on a bench, staff approached and thought I was filming. Apparently, something didn’t sit well with them. They asked for documents—I showed them, but didn’t hand them over. In the end they took me away after a search, and I still haven’t gotten my passport back,” reports SOTAvision, quoting Simagin’s account of the arrest.

The Meshchansky District Court sentenced Ekaterina Wagner to 15 days of administrative arrest for disobeying police orders (Part 1 of Article 19.3 of the Administrative Offences Code), reports “Slovo Zashchite.” She has also been issued a protocol for violating the rules of holding a public event (Part 5 of Article 20.2), which has not yet been reviewed.

“Ekaterina does not consider herself to be part of any mass gathering; she believes she did not break the law. She was not disturbing anyone, nor did she take part in any unauthorised action. She was simply out for a walk with her nephews,” said lawyer Nataliya Tikhonova.

The day before, Ekaterina’s nephew said that the security forces beat him and forced him to testify against his aunt.

As reported by “Mediazona,” the same court issued 15 days of arrest each to Yaroslav Polyakov, Mikael Markaryan, and a third detainee who asked to remain anonymous, under the same disobedience article.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court arrested two more people for petty hooliganism (Article 20.1). Aleksandr Shelestov received 15 days, and the second detainee—a woman—received 10 days.

The woman said she was detained while standing by a bench at Bolotnaya Square. A police officer demanded her passport. After she refused, the woman was taken to a police van.

Shelestov said he was sitting by the fountain when a police officer approached him and said he could not stay there. After Shelestov moved to a lamppost as instructed, another officer told him again to move, and he complied. After that, security personnel started calling him a protest coordinator and took his phone. Although they found nothing of interest on the device, Shelestov was still detained.

OVD-Info had not previously been aware of the detention of Shelestov, Polyakov and Markaryan—the total number of people detained in Moscow has now increased to 17.

The Zamoskvoretsky Court also returned to the police the protocol on petty hooliganism drawn up against Potemki Simagin. They will spend another day at “Alekseevskiy” police station (Simagin uses “they/them” pronouns), OVD-Info lawyer Aleksey Pinchuk said. The lawyer asked the court to summon the prosecutor, OMON officers, and police officers who made the arrest, as well as lawyer Oskar Cherdzhiev, who was not allowed to see Simagin yesterday. He also pointed out mistakes and discrepancies in the case file.

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow sentenced Vladislav Azarochkin to 15 days in detention. He was detained on 29 March at Bolotnaya Square and later reported being beaten by law enforcement, according to SOTAvision.

He was found guilty of petty hooliganism (part 1, article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

According to Azarochkin, he was detained after witnessing someone else being detained and offering to act as a witness for the police:

“I’m walking by the centre, take out a cigarette, start smoking, see lots of police officers, see someone being led off, their belongings thrown on the pavement. I offered to act as a witness if it was a search. Then five officers surrounded me. ‘What are you smoking? ’ they asked. I apologised, put out the cigarette. They said I was littering, that it was article 19.3, twisted my arms, no one identified themselves even though I asked. They took me to a police van, there they took a person’s phone and searched through it. Then a police officer grabbed me by the throat and began to choke me. He mocked me with words. Then he said he would ‘play the leather flute’ with me, holding me by the zip, clearly threatening rape.”

After that, Azarochkin was beaten. In court, he said it was still painful for him to stand and he was covered in bruises. According to the detainee, one of the officers told him: “I hate people like you.”

Soon after, Azarochkin’s condition worsened and an ambulance was called for him. He was then taken to hospital, where his injuries were documented. However, the medical records were not attached to the case file.

The detainee spent the night at the Yakimanka police station. Police did not allow volunteers to give him water or hygiene items, and the ventilation in his cell was turned off.

As SOTAvision reports, originally the police were going to charge Azarochkin with violating the smoking ban. But, claims the detainee, that document “was scrunched up and thrown away after a call from above.”

In court, lawyer Oskar Cherdzhiev requested that footage from police body cameras be seized and that the officers be summoned for questioning. Judge Yulia Varankina denied his requests.

In court, Azarochkin also told his defence lawyer that the police beat him both at the station and again this morning. He felt unwell due to the stuffy conditions in the cell, fell down, and then asked for an ambulance to be called. According to Azarochkin, after that, the police kicked him. He noted that corridor cameras at the station might have recorded this.

16:47 After the court session, Azarochkin called his girlfriend and said he had been beaten in the police van. SOTAvision reports this.

“Bumaga” reports a second detention in St Petersburg.

Police officers detained a man on the embankment near Lenin Square.

Earlier, law enforcement officers had threatened to detain those gathered at Lenin Square to take part in a protest against blockings, if they did not leave.

Activist Nikita Nesmeyanov was detained in the centre of Voronezh, a city in south-western Russia, during a solo picket against internet blocks, reports the Civil Defence Node Telegram channel.

He held a picket with a libertarian flag and a poster reading: “Stop slowing us down. Stop blocking us. For a free internet!!! Against bans. Against censorship!!!”

21:05 Nesmeyanov has been released from police station No. 6, he himself told OVD-Info. Police took a statement from the activist, but did not draw up an offence report.

20:46 Artur Wagner has been released from the Meshchansky police station, reports SOTAvision. He said that the police officers in the station hit him on the back of the head.

He was also pressured to give evidence against his aunt Yekaterina Wagner, with whom he had been detained on Bolotnaya Square—the officers forced him to say that she made him attend the rally. Ultimately, he gave this statement.

RusNews writes that in the station, Wagner was threatened with a beating that the police said they would record on video. According to the young man, his bank card was stolen in the police station.

Wagner has a category two disability.

The OVD-Info lawyer Natalia Tikhonova has still not been allowed to see the detainees at this station.

23:16 A second detainee is being held overnight at the Meshchansky police station, OVD-Info lawyer Natalia Tikhonova reported. She has now been allowed access to the remaining detainees in the station.

It is not known what exactly the man is being charged with.

Four people were released without any charges being filed. The parents of the two underage detainees arrived at the station.

Activists who tried to pass on essential items to Yekaterina Wagner and the second detainee told SOTAvision that police staff were rude. They refused to pass hygiene items, including toothbrushes, to the detainees.

Security forces are pushing back people gathered on Bolotnaya Square and demanding that they disperse. This was reported by the outlet Ostorozhno, novosti (“Caution, News”).

Police told the protesters that “an event is taking place in the Kremlin” and “if they order us to detain you, we will detain you.” In addition, a woman was detained after she shouted: “Dear OMON and police, we need your protection.” Security officers are speaking with her by the police van.

In St Petersburg, a man who was with a group of young people was detained on Lenin Square. This was reported by “Bumaga.”

Plainclothes officers escorted him to a police van. Another member of the group had unfurled a Russian flag beforehand.

Earlier, a small group of people had gathered on the square, which is located by Finland Station. Their documents had already been checked. “Bumaga” notes that reinforcements arrived for the security forces.

17:02 The man was released. He said the security forces threatened him with an administrative offence report and being sent to the military enlistment office, writes “Bumaga.”

He also told the others gathered that the security forces threatened to start detaining people if they did not disperse. After this, people who had come to the protest against blockings moved away from Lenin Square.

Police officers approached those who remained on the square.

On Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, OMON riot police are on duty and the police are carrying out random ID checks. This was reported by ‘Ostorozhno, novosti’ (‘Caution, News’).

According to the outlet, after checking documents, the police detained a young man who was carrying a Russian flag and a placard. Further details are unknown.

In Tomsk, a major city in Siberia, on the evening of 28 March, the organiser of a rally for a free internet was detained. Local activist Anton Isakov is being charged with “petty hooliganism,” reports RusNews.

“I was detained on suspicion of petty hooliganism. Currently at the Nakhimova police station,” Isakov reported.

The day before, the activist was summoned to the police, where he was given a warning and a notice to appear at the military enlistment office.

The authorities did not approve the rally in Tomsk itself, stating that all 15 possible venues in the city were already booked.

30 March The Kirov District Court of Tomsk sentenced Isakov to 14 days of arrest. This was reported on her Telegram channel by politician Kseniya Fadeyeva.

In Yakutsk, a city in the Russian Far East, the organiser of a rally for a free internet, Aleksei Popov, has been detained. He was taken to the police station. Popov himself reported this.

The man had submitted an application to hold a demonstration against internet blockages and throttling, but the authorities refused authorisation due to “the attention of disruptive individuals.”

On 30 March, Popov was released from the police station 48 hours after his detention, according to the Yakutia branch of the “Candidates’ Headquarters” reported.

He has been written up for disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Offences Code). As Popov’s relatives told the 7×7 publication, the police claimed that he refused to enter the police station and was swearing.

The Butyrsky District Court in Moscow has sentenced another applicant for the protest against internet blocks, Yevgeny Ladygin, to 15 days of administrative arrest. Information about this appeared on the city courts’ press service Telegram channel.

The young man was found guilty under the article for disobeying a lawful order from a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) due to his participation “in an unauthorised event against internet blocks on Bolotnaya Square.”

He has become the fifth detained applicant for the event that representatives of the Scarlet Swan movement wanted to hold on Bolotnaya Square on 29 March.