Report on Human Rights Violations in Republic of Sakha Yakutia
April 2026
In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), systemic violations of both fundamental human rights and the management of natural and social resources continue.
Repressions and Persecution of Dissent
Case of Ekaterina Everestova
A 26-year-old resident of Yakutia, Ekaterina Everestova, was sentenced by the Namtsy District Court of Yakutia to six years of suspended imprisonment under the article on “fakes”. The reason was the publication of a video titled “Ukraine Before and After the Russian World”, which showed the consequences of the shelling of Kharkiv and Kyiv.
The text of the court decision was removed from public access. However, according to Mediazona, the court materials indicated that Ekaterina “acted out of motives of political hatred” when she showed residential buildings in Kyiv destroyed by Russian missiles and a school building in Kharkiv.
Taking into account her sincere confession and extremely positive characteristics of the accused, the court gave her a suspended sentence with a probation period of two years, and also banned her from publishing on the Internet for 3 years.
Link: https://zona.media/news/2026/04/18/oleni
Previously, the same court fined Ekaterina Everestova under the protocol for “participation in an undesirable organization”. The reason was a publication on the social network Twitter with a link to an article from the publication DOXA titled “OSCE Recognized Russia as a Colonial Empire”.
Link: https://doxa.team/news/2023-07-06-empire
Case of Maxim Skrybykin
On 21 April 2026, the same Namtsy Court of Yakutia sentenced 24-year-old Maxim Skrybykin to 2 years of suspended imprisonment for a comment on the Internet.
On the channel of blogger Pavel Kanygin, a video titled “The Most Aggressive Priest of Russia” was released about an odious priest who participates in Russian military propaganda, recommends “killing internal enemies”, “breaking women over the knee and shoving them into a washing machine”, and blesses Russian missiles.
After watching the video, Maxim Skrybykin commented in his heart: “Shoot them all *obscene language*. Like during the revolution in 1917.” And it was for this comment that he was charged under Article 280 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Link: https://zona.media/news/2026/05/21/1917
Case of Anatoly Nogovitsyn, leader of the Yakut branch of the Yabloko party
The Yakutsk City Court fined the leader of the Yabloko party in Yakutia under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The reason was a publication more than three years old in the Telegram messenger with a link to the publication “The Moscow Times”, which is recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation. At the same time, the publication was recognized as undesirable only six months after that very publication. As the defendant stated in court, he had deleted all problematic publications back in 2025. Meanwhile, the prosecution side claimed that they had discovered the publications already in 2026.
During the court check, the publications were not found. However, Judge Vasilyeva A.P., despite the lack of evidence from the prosecution, took their side. As follows from the speech of Judge Vasilyeva A.P., when making the decision she was guided only by assumptions about possible actions. Quote:
“The arguments of Nogovitsyn A.G. that the hyperlink specified in the report of the official is not found on the page ‘Alexander Nogovitsyn’ are not taken into account by the court and are refuted by the explanation of Nogovitsyn A.G. himself, according to which he explained that he deleted all undesirable posts in order not to be brought to administrative responsibility, the attached and viewed video recording confirms the explanation of Nogovitsyn A.G. (that the hyperlink is not working – TR), however the video recording was made (by Nogovitsyn – TR) on 27.03.2026, which does not exclude the version of the deletion of the publication of the organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation, after familiarization with the case materials on 18.03.2026.”
Link: https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/16383?single
What is happening causes concern regarding compliance with the right to a fair trial. There is also concern about the almost synchronous persecution of Yabloko party leaders in the Republic of Karelia also for publications in Telegram. The accused in Karelia were also convicted without available evidence. Thus, in April 2026, Emilia Slabunova was convicted, denying the conduct of an examination of the authenticity of the prosecution’s evidence.
Link: https://ombudsman.media/report-april-2026-karelia/
A little later, her party colleague Dmitry Rybakov was also convicted, and also for missing publications.
Link: https://ombudsman.media/report-may-2026-karelia/
The ongoing judicial arbitrariness against representatives of the opposition party, including depriving them of the opportunity to be elected, may indicate both unlawful pressure by political power on the judiciary and repression against political opponents.
Disproportionate court decisions and violations in the administration of justice
Case of Ragim Magomerramov
The 1st Eastern District Military Court sentenced an already serving convict to 5 years and a fine of 27 million rubles (approximately 322,000 euros) for improper conversations with other prisoners and obscene language towards a prison employee. The corresponding message appeared on the judicial authority’s website on 2 April 2026.
According to the court, while in a punishment cell, Ragim told other prisoners about the taking of hostages in FKU SIZO-1 of the GUFSIN of Russia for Rostov Oblast on 16 June 2024 and in FKU Correctional Colony No. 19 of the UFSIN of Russia for Volgograd Oblast, while demonstrating support and approval of the prisoners’ actions.
Also, according to the prosecution, when one of the colony employees forced another prisoner “to comply with the established rules”, Ragim called for disobedience, and swore obscenely at the employee. What exactly the colony employee was forcing the prisoner to do is not reported.
Link: https://zona.media/news/2026/04/02/ragim
Delay by the court of the terms of ethnological expertise
On 30 April, on the Day of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, the Telegram channel Torboznoe Radio reminded about the situation with the Even community living in Yakutia on the Chuora River.
One of the tributaries of the Chuora, the Ranniy stream, is threatened with destruction, as a gold mining site is planned to be organized there. The Even community opposed the organization of the mine, since it is the place of their residence and traditional economic activity. However, the court, in which the respondents are the Government of Yakutia, the Ministry for the Development of the Arctic and Affairs of the Peoples of the North of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the company “Agrotechnologies of the North”, is openly delaying the resolution of the issue for already 2.5 years.
Link: https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/16641
For this time the legal status of indigenous peoples in the Russian Federation has significantly deteriorated. For example, the Russian Federation withdrew from the Convention on the Protection of Small Indigenous Peoples.
As for the destruction of natural objects, it is usually not possible to achieve justice in such matters in Yakutia either.
Link: https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/16329
Violations of legislation during conscription for military service
The military commissariat of the Gorny ulus handed a summons to a person whose father had been mobilized and who subsequently died as a result of forced participation in the Russian Federation’s military aggression in Ukraine. The Namtsy District Court ruled that the conscription of the son of the deceased was unlawful. However, the Conscription Commission of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. The commission’s position was that death by conscription and death by mobilization are different types of death, and death by mobilization does not count as a basis for exempting the son from military service.
On 8 April 2026, the Supreme Court of Yakutia rejected the Conscription Commission’s appeal. However, this situation indicates the position that conscription commissions have held for several years, on which they have based their actions all these years. This particular case reached the court. However, how many similar cases of violation of rights did not reach the court remains an open question.