Since the start of 2026, at least six people regarded by rights advocates as political prisoners have died in Russian pretrial detention centers, penal colonies, or a prison hospital. Novaya Gazeta Europe reports that the causes varied: serious illness, lack of timely treatment, heart attacks, and cases the prison service classified as suicide. Activists say the real toll may be higher.
On February 4, 64-year-old Kuzbass labor activist Oleg Tyryshkin died in SIZO-4 in Anzhero-Sudzhensk. He had been sentenced to two years over a comment about Akhmat Kadyrov’s death. His family was informed only four days later. The defense had pointed to his serious medical conditions, and during appeal proceedings Tyryshkin complained of breathing problems and feeling unwell.
On March 18, 56-year-old Vladimir Osipov, who had received six and a half years under the law on “military fakes,” died in a detention center in Ukhta. The reported cause was myocardial infarction. Rights advocates said he suffered from hypertension and kidney stone disease, repeatedly asked for hearings to be postponed, and was denied hospitalization.
In April, reports emerged that 53-year-old artist Andrey Akuzin, arrested over a social media comment, died in a detention center in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The official version says he died by suicide. Around the same time, according to the prison service, 42-year-old pacifist preacher Khristolyub Vegan was found hanged in a punishment cell; investigators opened a criminal case over negligence.
Others named by rights defenders include 65-year-old jeweler Alexander Dotsenko from Gatchina, who died on February 19 after a massive heart attack, and Roman Sidorkin, who died on January 9 in Saratov prison hospital after pneumonia. Sidorkin was serving a 23-year sentence in treason and sabotage-related cases.
Sergey Davidis, head of the Political Prisoners Support. Memorial project, said the rise in deaths reflects both the growing number of political prisoners since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine and the increasing imprisonment of elderly and seriously ill people.
Former Moscow prison service analyst Anna Karetnikova said the deaths do not necessarily point to deliberate killings, but rather to systemic indifference, weakened public oversight, and extremely poor prison healthcare. Davidis also noted that many deaths of Ukrainians held by Russia become known only months or years later.