The arrest date for Rostov activist Makovoz has been announced.

The organizer of the rally against internet blocking, Evgeny Makovoz, whose home had previously been searched, was sentenced to ten days in jail.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," security forces in Rostov-on-Don searched the home of Evgeny Makovoz, the organizer of the rally for internet freedom. The activist was beaten, and his whereabouts are unknown. Security forces seized his equipment, according to Makovoz's acquaintances. On March 23, it was revealed that the court had already sentenced Makovoz to an administrative penalty for petty hooliganism on March 20.

Activist Yevgeny Makovoz, who attempted to organize a rally in defense of Telegram in Rostov-on-Don, is serving ten days of administrative arrest, "Horizontal Russia 7x7" reported today (he has been added to the register of foreign agents).

The press service of the Pervomaisky District Court, which issued the administrative penalty for the activist on March 20, announced Makovoz's arrest period to journalists.

Makovoz was charged with petty hooliganism involving disobedience to law enforcement officers (Part 2 of Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). This article, which provides for up to 15 days of arrest, is often used for "carousel arrests" - successive administrative punishments that give security forces time to initiate a criminal case against a person deprived of liberty in this way, the publication notes.

"Caucasian Knot" wrote that the organizer of a rally in defense of Telegram in Volgograd and Volzhsky also came under pressure. The Volgograd mayor's office offered to postpone the event "until the situation stabilizes," but the activist refused, after which "men in civilian clothes" came to her. On March 12, the rally organizer reported that three men "in civilian clothes" came to her work and threatened her employer with problems, after which she was temporarily suspended from work. She received a refusal from the Volzhsky administration.

During mobile internet outages, websites and apps with authorized access are not always available, which, combined with problems with mobile communications, leads to significant problems, residents of southern Russia reported. In October 2025, Telegram channel creators in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts experienced a decline in readership, difficulties posting, and reader complaints about access issues with Telegram.

Roskomnadzor confirmed that the outages are due to government actions. The agency explained that these messaging apps are being restricted "to combat criminals" who use them to extort money and to involve Russians "in sabotage and terrorist activities." Telegram's significant slowdown in recent days has created significant inconvenience for users of the messenger in the North Caucasus republics. People have lost an accessible way to communicate with relatives, while businesses have lost established connections with clients and are suffering losses.