Case concerning the “Happy Chekist Day!” protest

In December 2021, security forces detained activists from the “Left Bloc” over a recent action called “Chekist Day” outside the FSB building in the South-Western District of Moscow. During the rally, two people with their faces covered unfolded a banner reading “Chekist Day,” illuminating it with flares.

Two activists, Ruslan Abasov and Lev Skoryakin, were sent to a remand centre as suspects under the article on “hooliganism committed by a group of persons in prior collusion with use of weapons” (part 2, article 213 of the Criminal Code). Abasov also faced an additional charge of vandalism (part 1, article 214 of the Criminal Code). In July 2022, OVD-Info lawyers Aleksandr Salamov and Evgenia Grigoryeva, who represent the young people, succeeded in having their clients released from detention. At that time, Abasov and Skoryakin were both placed under travel restrictions as a preventive measure.

In January 2023, Abasov was placed on the federal wanted list; it also became known at that time that Skoryakin had left Russia. He was placed on the wanted list later as well. In autumn of the same year, he was taken from Kyrgyzstan (a country in Central Asia) and brought to a remand centre in Moscow. In December, he was ordered to pay a fine of 500,000 roubles (approx. US$5,500), but the court cancelled the fine in view of the time Skoryakin had already spent in custody.