Oleg Mikhailov was detained in Moscow on suspicion of “justifying terrorism,” the Telegram channel Novaya Respublika and the BNK news agency reported.
The regional branch of Russia’s Communist Party confirmed his detention to BNK. Novaya Respublika reported that Mikhailov was charged with “justifying terrorism” over a 2024 post about sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, who was sentenced that year to five years in a penal colony, also for “justifying terrorism.”
Mikhailov is being held in a temporary detention facility. A court will decide on October 22 whether to keep him in custody or impose other restrictions pending trial. The provision he is accused of violating, Part 2 of Article 205.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code, carries a fine or five to seven years in prison, according to Novaya Respublika.
Oleg Mikhailov heads the Communist Party’s regional branch in Komi and is a former member of the republic’s State Council. In September 2021, he won a State Duma seat in a single-member district. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and Ukraine imposed sanctions on him. The United States sanctioned him over the passage of a law against “fake news” about the military, even though he had not voted for it.
In the 2026 State Duma election, Mikhailov finished second in the Syktyvkar single-member district, losing to a candidate who had fought in the war. During the campaign, Mikhailov was the only candidate from Komi to call for peace. A month and a half before the vote, there was an attempt to remove him from the ballot.
From Meduza’s archives
- ‘You can always find a crime to charge someone with’ Russian leftist thinker Boris Kagarlitsky faces seven years in prison for ‘justifying terrorism.’ Meduza spoke with his daughter about his arrest.
- Gerrymandering à la russe: To preserve United Russia’s supermajority, the Kremlin is pressuring Communists to sideline their strongest candidates in September’s elections
- The ‘certain nuances’ of prosecuting journalists The Kremlin’s spokesman explains why policing ‘justifications of terrorism’ isn’t an assault on free speech
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.