This page contains dataset on criminal cases initiated by Russian investigative authorities (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Investigative Committee, FSB) and tried by Russian courts — cases that we consider politically motivated.
For more details of the methodology and on the cases we consider politically motivated, you can read on this page.
Below, we present a data visualisation based on information from the dataset. The dataset itself might be found at the end of the page.
Monitoring of information on politically motivated cases and adding it to the database about individuals persecuted in such cases is an ongoing process. In the visualisation, information is updated every Monday. In the database — on a daily basis.
Data visualisation shows two metrics
The metrics reflect:
- The amount of people — how many people were subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution;
- The amount of prosecutions — the amount of people multiplied by the amount of criminal cases. Each row in the database corresponds to one prosecution of one person. This means that if more than one criminal case has been opened against a person and these cases are not merged in a single one by the persecution, then there will be more than one row for this person (for example, Alexei Navalny has eight rows!)
Filters are used to get detailed information about the persons involved (current status, gender, citizenship and age group). You can find description of filters at the bottom of this page.
General information
This graph reflects the number of individuals subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution by Russian authorities. OVD-Info has been collecting this information since 2012, and the graph shows the total number of individuals involved throughout the monitoring period — over 3,000 people.
For example, this chart illustrates that most frequently, individuals aged 30 to 50 became subjects of criminal cases over this period. The current number of people under investigation or serving sentences is greater than the number of individuals whose prosecutions have already ended.
Dynamics
This graph depicts the dynamics of the number of individuals involved in politically motivated criminal cases, regardless of their current status or location, based on the year of persecution initiation (where known), starting from 2012.
For instance, this chart indicates that in 2023, we observe almost as many prosecuted people as in the entire year of 2021. In 2021, there were mass protests, leading to nearly 200 people becoming subjects of criminal cases. In 2023, there were no protests. Additionally, there is an evident increase in the number of women persecuted in criminal cases.
Location of the persecuted persons
This graph illustrates the total number of individuals subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution by Russian authorities and their current locations, regardless of the year of persecution initiation.
The main number of this chart is 1011 people currently deprived of liberty. The chart also shows, for example, that the number of people currently persecuted —whether in deprived of liberty, serving non-custodial sentences, under investigation, or outside of Russia — is nearly 2000 individuals, even without accounting for those whose prosecution we are aware of but do not know their whereabouts. Additionally, it is apparent that the majority of individuals leaving Russia due to criminal prosecution or its risk fall within the age range of 30-50.
Persecution subject
The persecution that falls under more than one topic is shown in the column for each topic.
This graph shows the total number of prosecutions divided by topic. The topic is what the person is persecuted for.
It is important to note that often the persecution of the same person can be attributed to different topics, for example, it can fall under both «freedom of association» and «freedom of conscience» (this happens when people are persecuted because of their alleged membership in religious group). These persecutions fall into the columns of both topics.
This chart illustrates that before the onset of a full-scale war, the primary themes of persecution were freedom of association and freedom of conscience, as seen in cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hizb ut-Tahrir. After the commencement of the war, the main focus shifted to freedom of speech.
Criminal code articles
This graph represents the number of prosecutions for each article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Cases involving multiple articles are included in the column for each respective article. Due to this, additional filters and segmentation by gender, nationality, and age groups are not available on this graph. The ranking includes only the top 10 criminal articles with the highest number of individuals involved. Hovering the mouse cursor over the graph will display the name of the criminal article.
In this chart, we observe, among other things, that ‘anti-war’ articles that emerged in 2022 have entered the top 10 reasons for persecution over the past 11 years. Vandalism, often attributed to cases with written anti-war slogans or other actions, also features prominently. A significant number of cases under Article 282.2 are associated with the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Regional map
This chart allows us to see, among other things, that out of 16 regions in 2012, by 2015, in the majority of regions, there were politically motivated criminal prosecutions, and by 2022, persecutions had spread to all regions, including the annexed Crimea. Additionally, it is evident here that the annexed territory of Crimea is the second region with the highest number of persecutions after Moscow, spanning the entire period from 2012.
Filters legend
Statuses in the „Persecuted person state” filter mean:
- At large — the person has served his sentence, a non-custodial sentence has been imposed, or the persecution has ended;
- Under investigation — the current persecution is at the investigation stage or in court;
- Serving a sentence — a person is in a place of imprisonment after a verdict;
- Deceased — a person passed away, during or after the persecution — the details are not always known to us;
- Unknown — the current status is unknown to us.
The location of the persecuted persons is divided into:
- At large (prosecution ended) — those who have served their sentence, have been released from punishment, have been acquitted, or whose cases have been dismissed;
- Deprived of liberty — in a pre-trial detention center, in colonies, under house arrest or in compulsory treatment;
- At large (under investigation) — under a preventive measure that does not imply deprivation of liberty;
- Non-custodial sentence — those who received a sentence without imprisonment (e.g. — suspended sentence) and have not yet served it;
- Location unknown — location unknown or on the wanted list;
- Not in Russia — the person is not currently in Russia;
- Deceased — a person passed away, during or after the persecution — the details are not always known to us;
Subjects meanings:
- «Freedom of assembly”— persecution related to participation in public actions or calls for them;
- „Freedom of speech expression”— persecution for public statements in various forms; persecution of journalists for their activities;
- „Freedom of association”— persecution related to participation in organisations or associations;
- „Freedom of conscience”— persecution for participation (including alleged) in religious organisations and movements;
- „Other”— persecution that does not fall under the criteria above.
Color detailing in the «Select details» field allows you to segment information about persons involved by gender, age group or citizenship. If «Unknown» is indicated in some column, it means that we do not have the information yet.
If in the «Citizenship» column the countries are indicated separated by commas, for example «Russian Federation, Ukraine», this means that the person involved has dual citizenship. The «Other» column includes more than 25 countries whose citizens are the defendants in the cases.
The Gender column means the gender indicated in the documents of the person being persecuted. If «Unknown» is indicated in the «Gender» column, then we do not have accurate information.
«Age» is the age of the person involved at the time the prosecution began, not at the current moment. The ages of the defendants are grouped into groups «under 18», «from 18 to 30», «from 30 to 50», etc.
Data source
API
You can also access the data through experimental API. The documentation is available on this page.
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If you’ve noticed a bug in the database, have a question about the data, an idea to share with us, or any other message, please fill out this form, and we will get back to you promptly.