Monthly report on human rights violations in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
November 2025
In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), repression of dissenting journalists is once again being covered up under the statute “justifying terrorism”
On November 28, a court sentenced Alexandra Alexandrova, a journalist from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), to three years in a general regime penal colony under the statute “justifying terrorism” for anti-war online publications.
The investigation has not disclosed the specific publications. However, according to fellow journalists, Alexandrova left for Kazakhstan in 2022, and while there, she criticized the actions of the Russian authorities and military aggression. In 2024, Alexandra returned to her homeland, and in March 2025, by court order, she was sent to pretrial detention.
https://sakhaday.ru/news/sud-ozvuchil-prigovor-yakutskoy-zhurnalistke?from=copy
In this case, the Russian repressive apparatus violated Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the right to a fair and impartial trial.
The detention of prisoners in Sakha (Yakutia) also requires special attention to compliance with safety regulations for life and health
For example, in the district temporary detention facility (IVS) in the village of Belaya Gora, Abyisky Ulus, Yakutia, conditions do not meet basic requirements. While winter temperatures in Yakutia drop to -50 degrees Celsius, cells are not equipped with toilets, forcing prisoners to go outside in the extreme cold. There is a toilet inside the temporary detention center, but it is used only by staff, and prisoners are not allowed in.
Even the prosecutor’s office took note of these inhumane conditions and tried to sue for toilets and running water in the cells. However, the Supreme Court of Yakutia rejected the prosecutor’s claim for bureaucratic reasons.
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14484
Thus, the administration of the district temporary detention facility (IVS) in the village of Belaya Gora in the Abyisky Ulus of Yakutia is violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, specifically Article 10.
Deputy discussions on the cancellation of elections in Sakha (Yakutia)
In November, the Il Tumen continued its discussion of the anti-democratic “reform” of local elections, often boiling down to justifying the human rights violation these government officials intend to inflict on their people.
For example, Alexander Zaitsev, Chairman of the Srednekolymsky District Council of Deputies, stated that, in his opinion, elections divide the uluses, and those with many relatives win, and therefore the elections should be canceled.
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14492
According to other deputies, a lot of budget money is spent on elections, so they should be canceled. Another theory was that no one votes anyway, so why hold them? The only thing the deputies agreed on was that popular elections should be replaced by appointment by deputies or, depending on the level, by the Head of the Republic.
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14549
Furthermore, people are being deprived of the right to even nominate themselves for appointment as head of their native ulus or village. First, all candidates must pass a commission (with undefined members), and then, if the commission approves, they can apply. Or if a political party nominates a candidate, which makes the appointment of a local person familiar with the problems of their native ulus even more impossible.
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14690
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14679
Adoption of the bill under discussion would violate several provisions of Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Oligarchic mineral resource companies in Sakha (Yakutia) enter into agreements with local authorities for social assistance to the population for show, but fail to provide any real assistance
The head of the Neryungri district, R.M. Shchegelnyak, signed next agreement in 2022 with the Yakutugol mineral resource company for social assistance to the district’s population. In 2025, the prosecutor’s office inquired how the district head, who lived in an apartment owned by Yakutugol, was facilitating the implementation of the aforementioned agreement.
To justify his actions, the official attempted to normalize the formality of such documents. According to him, this means that mineral resource companies profiting from the extraction of local minerals sign assistance agreements in order to provide them when needed. And yet, no one intends to implement them or provide any real assistance. According to the official, this is a “nominal (formal) document that sits there and doesn’t fly.” There are virtually no Yakuts among the heads of Yakutia’s subsoil companies, which is probably why they don’t intend to voluntarily care for the well-being of the Republic and its people. The head of the district has not expressed any understanding of his or anyone else’s personal responsibility for what is happening. https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14626
Meanwhile, the top three coal producers in Sakha (Yakutia), including Yakutugol, reported a combined increase in production to 52 million tons of coal in 2025, and an estimated profit of over 2.6 trillion rubles. Coal in Yakutia is mined using the cheapest and most environmentally destructive method—open-pit coal mining.
https://tsargrad.tv/novost/jakutija-dostigla-rekorda-dobychi-uglja-52-mln-tonn-v-2025-godu_1519981
Also in Sakha (Yakutia), gold production by subsoil users increased in 2025, and the largest gem-quality diamond, weighing 468 carats, was found.
Aid to orphans in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) was cut by 209 million rubles without warning
On November 18, the Ministry of Construction of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) sent response No. 14/08-1735 to an appeal from an orphan girl from Yakutsk.
In September, the orphan girl purchased an apartment, which was supposed to be paid for using a housing certificate for orphans. However, she was unable to move into the purchased property, as the funds for the certificate were not transferred to the seller. As was revealed in the response from Deputy Minister E.E. Afanasyev, funding for aid to orphans was cut by 209 million rubles without warning, and therefore, the certificates already issued were not funded.
However, the Deputy Minister promised that when the Ministry finds funding, the money will definitely be transferred. However, he did not specify a timeframe.
The Yakutia government has decided to radically reduce the number of large families eligible for assistance from the Republic
Specifically, by a decree to the Law “On the Protection of Family, Motherhood, Fatherhood, and Childhood in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)”, the government decided to assist only those many-children families with five or more children. Families with three and four children, respectively, were supposed to be left without assistance.
However, the prosecutor’s office discovered the violation and appealed to the Supreme Court of the Sakha Republic, which, in late October 2025, invalidated the decree’s words “having five or more minor children.”
https://t.me/Torboznoe_radio/14373
Local residents fined for catching fish for food
Many villages in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) struggle with access to quality food. Local residents compensate for the high cost of food, which sometimes has to be delivered by air, and the lack of jobs that allow them to afford expensive products, by hunting, gathering, and fishing.
However, even here, federal regulations don’t accommodate the local customs. For example, in November, it was reported that Alexander Popov, a resident of the village of Chersky, was fined for fishing in the Kolyma River. A father of many children, Popov was fishing for his family. Before fishing, he warned fishery officials that he was unable to register his fishing net on the website due to poor internet connection and asked for help.
No assistance with registration was provided, but fisheries officials did not hesitate to «catch” the father of many children in an “offense” and fine him.