Report on Human Rights Violations in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
February 2026
In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the systematic violation of human rights by the imperial federal authorities continues.
Violation of Freedom of Speech and Repressions for Dissent
Court and fine for a repost on social networks
In February, a number of media outlets published news about another court hearing in Yakutia for a publication on the Internet. The court imposed a fine on the former deputy of Il Tumen (the Parliament of Sakha Yakutia), Afanasy Maximov, under the article on the demonstration of extremist symbols. At the same time, Afanasy Maximov had merely reposted a publication by the “Free Yakutia” foundation, which supports the right of the Yakut people to self-determination. For its human rights position, the Foundation was recognized as a terrorist organization, and Afanasy was detained by the police before the court hearing for the repost on social networks.
Maximov thanked the people who came to the court building to support him. He also suggested who might have acted as an informant in this case. Namely, that it was the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Aisen Nikolaev, against whom the accused ex-deputy and blogger had previously initiated a corruption check.
Colleagues wrote a denunciation against Il Tumen deputy Alexander Ivanov
On February 17, the deputy published a video in which he admired the successes of independent Kazakhstan, comparing them with the oppressed situation in which the Republic of Sakha finds itself. At the same time, Alexander Ivanov only stated well-known facts in the video. He spoke about the limited one hour per week of studying the native language in schools, about the deprivation of the freedom of choice of the Yakut people (just in the autumn in Yakutia, elections were canceled), and about the fact that the lands and resources of the Yakut nation are now managed by another, “titular” nation.
And now, a number of Il Tumen deputies wrote a denunciation against Ivanov, requesting that he be held accountable. Previously, the deputies had also expelled him from the party faction.
And on February 27, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included Alexander Ivanov in the list of foreign agents for some reason, although the deputy speaks about the situation and fights for the rights of only his own Yakut people. Maybe because he praised Kazakhstan?
The ongoing persecution of deputy Ivanov has signs of political repression, a gross violation of the right to freedom of speech, as well as the right of the people to self-determination.
https://t.me/dspYakutia/46 https://semnasem.org/news/2026/02/25/yakutskie-deputaty-donesli-na-kollegu-za-slova-o-pritesnenii-naroda-saha-v-rossii
Lawlessness of the Law Enforcement System
No one is yet held accountable for the death of a child in Yakutsk
In our January report, we reported on the death of a child at a military equipment exhibition in Yakutsk.
The child’s mother, Aitalina Egorova, launched a petition in February. She is collecting signatures to force the authorities to conduct a real investigation and reclassify the case.
So far, a criminal case has been opened under Part 1 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Causing death by negligence” against an unidentified person(!). The parents do not want to realize that for the Russian imperial authorities, the life of a Yakut child has a significantly lower value than the life of the head of a military exhibition.
In addition, it is obvious that the tragedy occurred as a result of the unprecedented militarization of children taking place in the Republic of Sakha. According to the mother, the child dreamed of becoming a military man and that is why he was so interested in the tank.
Five policemen in Yakutia who beat a suspect to death were detained only 3.5 months after the crime
On February 5, the Yakutsk City Court ruled to detain five suspected police officers. From the case materials, it became known that on October 10, 2025, in Yakutsk, criminal investigation officers conducted a search in the house of 35-year-old Vyacheslav for illegal drug trafficking. As a result of the search, the officers charged Vyacheslav with the presence of several cannabis bushes and took him to the department. In the department, torture was applied to the victim in order to extract a written confession to a criminal offense. In particular, during the torture, police officers broke Vyacheslav’s chest.
After returning home, according to the victim’s sister Inessa, Vyacheslav felt very unwell. In the following days, his condition became even worse. On October 15, at the local trauma center, the man was diagnosed with a double sternum fracture. However, according to the sister of the murdered man, doctors at Republican Hospital No. 2 said that they were “unable to perform such an operation on the sternum” and on this basis refused him hospitalization.
On October 16, police officers took Vyacheslav “for an investigative experiment,” where they pressured him, demanding that he sign a statement that his injuries occurred not because of the beating, but because he “fell.”
On October 18, he was finally hospitalized, but on the 19th he died. And only after several months were those accused of murder finally detained by the court.
https://jakutsky–jak.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=press_dep&op=1&did=197 https://sib.express/posts/368
However, the above case is not the only one. In the report on the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for October, we mentioned the case of the death of another man detained by the police. Vladimir Gaiday, a 25-year-old ferry worker in Yakutsk, was detained for an unknown reason. He had no criminal record, was not involved in illegal activities, did not abuse alcohol, and offered no resistance during detention. The security forces never explained to his relatives why Vladimir was detained. According to them, he was a gentle and kind person. The man died five hours after detention. According to the security forces, “due to poisoning by an unknown substance.”
However, there is a possibility that the real reason for the torture and death inflicted by police officers on the suspect Vyacheslav and the detainee for unknown reasons Vladimir was an attempt to recruit them for the war with Ukraine. The publication “Vershka” published a large material on this topic, in which journalists noted that the bonus for each person sent to war can reach 100,000 rubles (approximately 1,200 euros).
Cruel treatment, torture, and murders of Yakut men by security forces for refusing to go to the “SWO” are not something new. Let us recall the case that occurred at the end of 2024, when five men who refused to go to fight burned to death in a detention center in Yakutsk.