Hello!

I'm Maxim Polyakov, a correspondent for the online magazine ‘7x7’.

Russian authorities have intensified their persecution of the families of independent journalists, activists, and human rights defenders who openly criticize the state. This is not the first such instance in the country’s history. In the Soviet Union, criminal liability awaited not only those who opposed the communists but also their relatives. They were imprisoned as 'family members of traitors to the Motherland,' and ordinary people simply referred to them as 'the wife, sister, or brother of an enemy of the state.' In this newsletter, I will discuss how Russia is reinstating this oppressive practice and what Russian law enforcers are learning from their 'colleagues' in Belarus.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Most Recent Cases

In 2012, Bruno Leproux, the general director of Yves Rocher's Russian branch, submitted a letter to the Investigative Committee, accusing Alexey Navalny and his younger brother, Oleg, of fraud. Yves Rocher in Russia had previously partnered with a logistics company operated by the brothers. The court found Alexey and Oleg guilty of embezzling approximately $300,000 in transportation costs. Independent experts are convinced that the case was politically motivated and that no real damage occurred.

In 2014, both brothers received their sentences. While Alexey was released, Oleg was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, effectively becoming a hostage and suffering for the political activities of his relative, Putin’s main opponent.

When these events unfolded 10 years ago, both the trial and Oleg Navalny’s sentence seemed somewhat unusual. However, by 2024, the persecution of relatives has become the norm rather than the exception. Here are a few recent examples:

• The Moscow court has arrested Nadezhda Kevorkova, mother of independent journalist Vasily Polonsky, who remained in Russia following the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and continued working for 'Novaya Gazeta,' 'Zhivoy Gvozd' (the YouTube channel of former 'Echo of Moscow' employees), and other independent media outlets. The pretext for persecuting Polonsky's mother stemmed from two texts on her Telegram channel. According to investigators, one of these posts justified the activities of the Taliban, an organization considered terrorist in Russia. However, this designation doesn't prevent its members from meeting with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussing joint projects. The second post contained a text by Kevorkova’s close friend, journalist Orkhan Jemal, recounting the 2005 attack on Nalchik.
• On the morning of May 12, security forces arrived at the father of Konstantin Konoplyanko, an employee of the Memorial human rights organization. Clad in plain clothes and balaclavas, the law enforcement officials informed the lawyer, who arrived at the apartment, about ongoing investigative activities but refused to allow him entry. Sergey Konoplyanko's relatives were also unable to reach him, and the reason for the search remained unknown. Around 9 PM, Memorial reported that Sergey Konoplyanko was being taken to Tver for further ‘operational-search activities.’
• In late April, the son of human rights defender Yelena Agafonova from Tula Oblast, recognized as a foreign agent in 2023, was expelled from the 4th year of the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg. Immediately thereafter, he received a summons, indicating his further deployment to Ukraine.

Brief Background

The term 'family member of a traitor to the Motherland' appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1926. After the establishment of Soviet rule and the end of the Civil War, whenever a Soviet official was arrested, their wives and relatives would protest and demand their release. Family members filed complaints, which representatives of the Communist Party had to review during assemblies. The authorities considered this an obstacle to the 'normal' work of the party, and Joseph Stalin found a radical solution: 'family members of traitors to the Motherland' also became subject to repression.

Relatives were threatened and sometimes tortured, urged to renounce their loved ones, but even this could not always save them. Spouses and adult children were executed or sent to camps, while young children were placed in orphanages where they were given different family names.

In many cases, decisions were made by so-called 'troikas,' groups of three people who determined which 'traitors to the Motherland' and their families should be executed or exiled. The peak of these repressions occurred in 1937-1938, a period known as the 'Great Terror.'

Our colleagues from the 'Meduza' media outlet collected stories of people whose relatives were labeled as 'enemies of the state.' Here are a couple of brief recollections:

• Alexander: "Both my grandfathers were subjected to repression. My paternal grandfather, Ivan Danilovich Danilenko, was a writer. He worked in Kharkiv in the party propaganda office and did not want to move to Kyiv when the capital was relocated. He was arrested in September 1937 and convicted as an ‘enemy of the state.’ There is a dash in the ‘cause of death’ line in his death certificate, which was handed to the family in 1958. But even that was a lie. The date of death was marked as February 1938, but, as we recently found out with Memorial’s assistance, he was executed on December 31, 1937. Perhaps he didn't fit into the execution quota for that year. My grandmother was arrested in November 1938 as a family member of an ‘enemy of the state.’ My father came back from school in the evening after his mother was detained, and not a single neighbor opened their door to him. He lay down under the sealed door and fell asleep. My grandmother was released in 1946, but with another 12 years of deprivation of rights ahead. My other grandfather, Lev, was arrested in 1939 and held in prison without food or a toilet. During an interrogation, an investigator struck him and ruptured his bladder. He died two days later.”
• Dmitry: "During World War II, my grandfather was an intelligence officer. He was captured and sent to Dachau. Later, he was transferred to Buchenwald, where in 1945 he was one of the organizers of an uprising. The American allies suggested that he leave with them, but he refused out of fear that this would lead to the repression of his family. In 1947, he was tried under Article 58 (counter-revolutionary activities) and sentenced to 25 years without the right of correspondence. When he was imprisoned, my dad was only nine months old, and my grandmother had to flee to avoid arrest as well. My grandfather was released in 1956 under an amnesty. When my dad went to school, he had to sit at a separate desk as the son of an ‘enemy of the state.’”

The Belarus scenario

Russian oppositionists often look at how repression is developing in neighboring Belarus. After the 2020 presidential elections and the mass protests that followed, the state began persecuting active participants in the rallies. When these people left the country, the authorities started exerting pressure on their relatives.

At the ‘7x7’ editorial office, we have a joke about our colleagues in Belarus. We say that we are watching the same TV show, but Belarus is on season six, while Russia is still on season four. We believe similar repressions await us in the near future.

Since 2021, Belarusian law enforcement has been conducting raids on the relatives of political activists and prisoners. One of the major raids happened in January 2024. During this time, security forces visited 63-year-old Irina Tokarchuk and initiated a criminal case against her for ‘aiding extremist activities.’ Tokarchuk’s daughter was a political prisoner who left the country after serving her term and continued criticizing the state.

During this raid, the police checked 229 individuals. Forty-three of them received fines or administrative arrests, and criminal charges were brought against another 24.

5-Year Trend

As mentioned earlier, repression against the relatives of Kremlin opponents has escalated. I reached out to Natalia Zvyagina, Director of Amnesty International Russia, for her insights on this matter. According to her, this trend has already emerged and is expected to intensify within Russia over the next five years.

"This isn't entirely new for Russia. In last year's report by Amnesty International Russia, such repression was noted as a common practice. We can observe employees of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and supporters of Alexey Navalny facing these challenges. As time progresses, we're seeing children increasingly affected."

However, Natalia Zvyagina is convinced that repression against the relatives of opposition figures will not become a widespread phenomenon. According to her, the state system is not yet geared toward this.

I must admit I'm far less optimistic than Natalia Zvyagina. I anticipate a significant increase in such cases by the end of 2024, but I'd be glad to be proven wrong.

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