Report about the Human Rights violations in Republic of Udmurtia
September 2025
ABSTRACT
In September, numerous human rights violations were recorded in the Udmurt Republic: Political rights and the right to fair elections were being severely harassed. A significant escalation in repression and persecution of civil society activists has also been noted.
Militarization of Children
On Knowledge Day, September 1, parents in Udmurt schools were urged to donate money “to the SVO” instead of gifting flower bouquets to teachers. The push was to introduce the newly created “Soldiers’ Lives Instead of Flowers” and “Don’t Buy Flowers. Help a soldier!” campaigns.
As the “Udmurtia Against Corruption” observes, pro-government organizations are resorting to such extortions at a time when the military budget has already exceeded the education budget by 28 times. Collectively, parents are now having to take out microloans to send their children to school.
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/8963
https://teletype.in/@ozero2.0/ulichnyu-pevicy-zaderzhali-za-pornofilmy
Large-scale Violations in Local Elections
Among the lengthy list of violations, the banned campaigning in a kindergarten stands out as cynical:
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9026?single
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9066?single
On September 3, queues of public sector employees and students were seen in front of the territorial election commissions. According to local news channels, primary voters, university students, and public sector employees received text messages demanding them to “early voting.” The public group “Elections in Detail” calls the situation a widespread form of coercion, especially given the potential for vote control:
https://t.me/detailselections/136
Similarly, in early September, reports began to emerge that healthcare workers and medical students were being forced to register for the “remote electronic voting” system. According to these workers and students, employees of the Republic’s Ministry of Health are literally checking every healthcare worker to see if they have registered.
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9036
They are also conducting door-to-door visits to all citizens. Plain-clothed civilians wearing vests with the inscription “Electoral Commission” are urging apartment residents to register with their tablets to vote remotely on Election Day.
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9057
The technology for conducting “remote electronic voting” prevents independent election monitoring and also opens up extensive opportunities for fraud:
Forcing employees of public institutions to vote “properly,” including requiring them to provide their superiors a screenshot or photo of a checkmark for a government candidate. The practice is so widespread that public activists have developed a special program called “Checkmark Bot.” The program helps to process a fake photo with a checkmark next to the “right candidate”:
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9081?single
During the election, laptops with remote voting devices were placed directly at polling stations. This form of voting makes the outcome questionable and also deprives the party of anonymity. One party filed a complaint of violations:
https://vk.com/udm_kprf?w=wall-148091031_33800
On election day, the Central Election Commission’s website went black for several hours. Websites displaying data for independent observers were also down, preventing observers from verifying turnout data or monitoring the entry of protocols.
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9156?single
The publication “Verstka” reported on this and many other violations: https://verstka.media/edinyi-den-golosovaniya-2025
Repressions and Persecution
Ivan Merezhnikov
On September 10, the court extended a house arrest order for civil activist Ivan Merezhnikov. The formal reason for the arrest stemmed from an allegation made by Maria Zametaeva (daughter of Alexei Zametaev, the head of Votkinsk). Due to the publication of her information (her name and the VIN of her car are available in open sources), the activist was charged with “unauthorized access to information” under Article 272.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The real reason for the arrest was allegedly related to Ivan Merezhnikov’s investigation into the construction of an oil waste landfill near Votkinsk Pond:
According to the public group “Votkinsk. Obsudim,” riot police from Izhevsk were present at the court hearing. Apparently, the authorities had feared a public backlash:
https://vk.com/votkinsk_news?w=wall-63969687_49356
On September 2, public defender Alexander Zolotarev won a court ruling to restore the city’s only milk kitchen. https://t.me/udmprotivcor/8973?single
However, due to his public work, a lawsuit was filed against the activist. The district hospital administration (which was under investigation by this same activist for committing illegal activities) is suing for the “protection of its business reputation.”
https://vk.com/alexglazzol?from=search&w=wall23062348_30300
https://t.me/udmprotivcor/8896
Evgeniya Rogozina
A resident of Udmurtia, placed in pretrial detention for a comment under a post on the rising of butter prices, was first forced to apologize to Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut: https://t.me/udmprotivcor/9024
And then being fined for 310,000 rubles.
Ruslan Mirkhatovich Fakhriev
On September 9, the Sarapul City Court of Udmurtia sentenced resident Ruslan Mirkhatovich Fakhriev to a suspended three-year prison sentence for a comment he made on social media. As reported by the United Press Service of the Courts of Udmurtia, “The court found that the defendant, due to dissatisfaction with the policies of the Russian Federation leadership, developed a false sense of intolerance, expressed in a hostile attitude toward the conduct of the Joint Military Operation. After reading a publication on the Telegram messenger about a nuclear strike on Ukrainian territory, on August 30, 2023, the man, using an electronic device connected to the internet… posted a comment in one of the messenger channels calling for the destruction of bunkers…”
His verdict went into effect on September 27.
Arrest of a Resident
At the end of September, a court placed an Izhevsk resident under house arrest for posting “false information about the USSR’s activities in World War II” on a social media Telegram channel, “Udmurtia Against Corruption.”