Security forces have searched the home of a lawyer and former police officer in the Perm region of the Russian Urals, and detained his wife and another activist, regional news outlet Perm 36.6 reported on Wednesday.
Artyom Fayzulin, his wife Irina, and fellow activist Yelena Guseva were all detained after their homes were searched in the city of Berezniki on Wednesday morning. The Fayzulins had all their electronics seized.
According to the outlet, Fayzulin was later released, while his wife Irina and Guseva were detained for 48 hours as part of the criminal case against them for donating to Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Fayzulin is a former police officer from Berezniki, who was fired from his position in 2013 for expressing support for slain opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who was killed at a penal colony in the Russian Arctic in February 2024. After he was fired, Fayzulin began providing legal assistance to activists opposed to corruption and the war in Ukraine, while his wife Irina also became involved in civic activism.
Yelena Guseva is a famous sportswoman who features in the Guinness Book of Records as part of an international team that swam across the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska in 2014. In 2022, Guseva was fined 40,000 rubles (€330) for “discrediting the Russian army” for staging a picket while holding a banner that read “Peace for Ukraine! Freedom for Russia! A tribunal for Putin!” In 2023, she was assigned community service for non-payment of the fine.
Fayzulin and Guseva were previously subjected to searches in March 2024. According to OVD-Info, the current measures may relate to a case against the founder of Perm 36.6, Sergey Ukhov, who now lives outside Russia.