Krasnodar political prisoner Vladimir Yarotsky was found dead in a prison colony.

Political prisoner Vladimir Yarotsky, convicted of spreading fake news about the army and desecrating symbols of military glory, was found dead in a penal colony in Khadyzhensk. According to human rights activists, the Federal Penitentiary Service listed the cause of death as suicide.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in January 2024, a court in Krasnodar sentenced local resident Vladimir Yarotsky to 18 months in prison, deeming an image of the St. George ribbon posted on social media to be a desecration of a symbol of military glory. The Krasnodar Regional Courtremanded Yarotsky's case for retrial following a petition from the prosecutor's office for a harsher sentence. Yarotsky was later charged with inciting terrorism and fined. On July 31, 2024, human rights activists recognized Yarotsky as a political prisoner. In January, it was announced that Yarotsky was charged with spreading fake news about the army. A court in Krasnodar deemed Yarotsky's social media posts about the number of soldiers killed in Ukraine and a picture of a St. George ribbon to be dissemination of fake news about the army and an insult to symbols of military glory, and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison.

On the night of May 6, political prisoner Vladimir Yarotsky was found dead in Penal Colony No. 9 in Khadyzhensk (Krasnodar Krai), the Politzek-Info project reports.

According to "Caucasian Knot," journalist and blogger Alexander Nozdrinov from Krasnodar Krai was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for disseminating fake news about the army (Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code). The court also banned him from working in the media for four years. The journalist's relatives linked the persecution to his civic stance and accused the court of bias. The defense appealed Nozdrinov's sentence, arguing that the trial court had violated his right to defense and had shown bias, and that the sentence was based on the findings of an unprofessional expert. However, on February 19, 2024, the appellate court upheld the sentence, and in June of the same year, the cassation court upheld the sentence. In early May 2024, it became known that Nozdrinov had been transferred to Penal Colony No. 9 in Khadyzhensk.

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