Activists held a rally in Yerevan in support of Russian prisoners.

In Yerevan, several activists held a rally near the Russian embassy in support of individuals they consider political prisoners.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," activists have repeatedly held pickets in front of the Russian embassy in Yerevan demanding the release of prisoners in Russia whose prosecution they consider unjust. On March 16, for example, he held a solo picket demanding the release of Ruslan Sidiki, who complained of torture after his arrest.

A mass picket was held near the Russian embassy in the Armenian capital. Activists, holding posters, demanded the release of Russian citizens convicted for political reasons, according to the publication "RusNews."

The protesters placed particular emphasis on the defendants in the "Furgal case," who were sentenced to 13 to 21 years in a maximum-security penal colony. Among them were former Khabarovsk Krai Governor Sergei Furgal, chief accountant Galina Aleinikova, and her deputy Svetlana Osipenko.

Furthermore, the protesters drew attention to the stories of other convicted individuals: Arseny Turbin*, recognized as the youngest political prisoner in Russia. He was convicted at age 15. And also to Gennady Artemenko*, born in 1963, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after attempting to take his elderly mother out of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

As a reminder, in February 2023, people from Russia held a protest in Yerevan against the sentence of Khabarovsk Krai Governor Sergei Furgal, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

At the end of February 2022, after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the flow of people leaving Russia increased. Armenia has become one of the relocation countries, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Why did Russians go to Armenia?".

* Added to the list of terrorists and extremists

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.