Mikhail Feldman

On March 11, 2014, Mikhail Feldman was detained in connection with a case under the article on hooliganism motivated by political hatred or enmity committed by a group of persons by prior agreement. The case was related to the display of a German flag on the building of the Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Kaliningrad Region on March 11.

He was initially accused of using foul language and sentenced to administrative arrest. His apartment was then searched. At the end of April, Feldman was detained on criminal charges of hooliganism, and a measure of restraint in the form of detention was imposed on him. The investigation claimed that Feldman, together with Dmitrii Fonarev and Oleg Savvin, committed the act of hooliganism with the motive of hatred towards veterans. The investigators tried to coerce Feldman into cooperation under the threat of criminal prosecution for illegal possession of explosives allegedly found on him during a search.

After Feldman refused to cooperate, he was additionally named as a suspect under the article on possession of explosives: according to the case materials, a backpack containing 357 grams of hexogen was seized from him near the FSB building. Feldman responded to these threats by going on a “dry” hunger strike for four days in the special detention center. Afterwards, the head of the facility gave him his word of honour as an officer that no explosives case would be opened. However, it was later revealed that the explosives charge had been included in the case.

On June 17, 2015, he was sentenced to one year, one month, and 23 days of imprisonment, which he had already served in the pre-trial detention center; he was released in the courtroom. On October 7, the court of appeals upheld the sentence, but the hate motive was excluded from the charges.

In 2020, Feldman was sentenced to two months of restriction of liberty for insulting state symbols because of his posts on social media. He had published a photo of the Russian tricolour with the caption “wipe your feet,” the Russian coat of arms accompanied by a profanity-laced inscription, and an image of the flag placed next to a human anus.

During his final statement in court, Feldman took a Russian flag out of his jacket pocket, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it, shouting, “Wipe your feet!” As a result, a new case was opened against him under the clause on insulting state symbols. On March 3, 2021, Feldman was sentenced to six months of restriction of liberty. On June 7, the appeals court commuted the sentence to five months of suspended imprisonment.

In 2023, a case was brought against Feldman for discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces. The court imposed a preventive measure on him in the form of restrictions on certain activities. On March 7, 2024, Feldman was placed in detention for violating the terms of the measure: he had been shopping for wedding rings, which brought him near an administrative building - a location he was prohibited from approaching; he also left his residence at 3:40 a.m.

On March 28, 2024, Feldman was sentenced to two years in standard security prison. He was released from prison on June 4, 2025.

Feldman suffers from serious health issues — he has cerebral palsy.