00:58, 18 September 2025

Zinovkina and Gribul ended their hunger strike

Russians Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul, sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Georgia on drug charges, ended their hunger strike, which they announced on the day of their sentencing.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Russian citizens Artem Gribul and Anastasia Zinovkina, who participated in protests in Tbilisi, were arrested in December 2024 on drug trafficking charges. They claim that evidence was planted against them and that security forces resorted to threats. On September 12, a Tbilisi court sentenced both to 8.5 years in prison. After the verdict was announced, both Zinovkina and Gribul announced that they were beginning a hunger strike.

According to security forces, packages containing narcotics were found in the apartment where the activists lived. Gribul's father previously told the "Caucasian Knot" that there is a video recording of the search in the case file, in which an operative appears and then disappears from the frame. "There is a moment when operatives are recorded standing at the door, but the investigator disappears from the frame for four minutes. In four minutes, you can do anything, plant any kind of evidence," he said. Footage from the search of the Tbilisi apartment recorded the presence of an unknown person who is not mentioned in the protocol, the lawyer stated in court on September 1.

Anastasia Zinovkina and Artem Gribul announced that they have ended their hunger strike in prison. According to Zinovkina, since September 12, she has not been transferred to a separate cell or provided with the medical observation required of prisoners on hunger strike.

Zinovkina is allergic to carrots, which are cooked and included in almost every meal in prison, and as a result, she barely eats. She spends the money transferred to her prison account by journalist Nanuka Zhorzholiani's charitable foundation only on water, cigarettes, pens, and notebooks. Water is not always available in the prison commissary, and the tap water is undrinkable and frequently shut off, the Tbilisi_Life Telegram channel reported on September 17.

Following the verdict, the convicted individuals were given the right to 15-minute phone calls daily; previously, they were only allowed four calls of that length per month.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that on September 2, a Tbilisi court sentenced Russian citizen Anton Chechin, who was arrested on similar charges after also participating in protests, to eight years and six months in prison. Chechin's wife, Manana Samkharadze, announced a protest near the Supreme Court building for September 16 in support of all three convicted Russians—Chechin, Zinovkina, and Gribul. The protest will take place on the evening of Thursday, September 18.

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Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/415504