Rights defenders declare Vladislav Poruchikov as political prisoner

The initiation of a criminal case against Vladislav Poruchikov, a student from Taganrog, was preceded by a series of arrests, and the convict himself has reported pressure and torture.

The circumstances of the case suggest that the charges were falsified, and therefore he was recognized as a political prisoner. Human rights defenders are unaware of Vladislav’s current whereabouts.

In May 2023, the 22-year-old Poruchikov told his parents that he was going to a conference in Moscow, after which he disappeared. It was later revealed that he was in the Belgorod Region: from June 3 and over the next month and a half of that year, he was detained, fined or arrested six times for his “antisocial behaviour,” the human rights project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial”* has reported.

According to law enforcers, after each release, Poruchkov “immediately got drunk,” for which he was detained again. As a result, Poruchikov was arrested within a criminal case: the prosecution stated that he, trying to join the "Freedom of Russia" Legion, recognized in the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization and banned, visited Belarus and Georgia, and then repeatedly tried to cross the border into Ukraine, "but was unable to do so due to his arrests."

The charges against Poruchikov of simultaneously preparing to join a terrorist organization and for treason are illogical, and his arrests were probably used to falsify the case materials, human rights defenders believe.

"According to his defence, during this period Poruchikov was pressured, tortured, and deprived of the advocate’s assistance," they have stated.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.