Anna Stepanova, an environmental activist from the Arkhangelsk region known for protesting the Shiyes landfill project and opposing the war against Ukraine, says she may lose her apartment in the settlement of Savinsky in Arkhangelsk region. According to her, on January 4, her cousin Oleg Gorin and, she says, an FSB officer came to the flat, which is owned in shares by her and her two children.
Stepanova told the outlet Veter that after receiving administrative fines for “discrediting the army,” she left Russia, first for Georgia and later for Germany. Her three-room apartment remained in Savinsky; she says she bought it on credit several years ago. The activist says most of her relatives in the settlement support the war, including 35-year-old Gorin, who, according to her, first signed a contract with the Wagner mercenary group and later with Russia’s Defense Ministry.
According to Stepanova, her cousin filed the complaint not because he needed the apartment itself, but because of her political stance. She says she does not understand on what legal grounds the property could be taken from her, but believes the pressure is linked to her anti-war statements. At the same time, she said she had already mentally parted with her property in Russia: her bank accounts have been frozen and the fines against her, by her estimate, are close to one million rubles.
“He believes I am a traitor to the motherland, and that he is a hero,” Stepanova said of her cousin’s attitude.
Oleg Gorin told the journalist that he had indeed filed a complaint with the police. In his version, the reason was “slander”: he claims that Stepanova has spread false information about him and their family. Gorin also said he wanted to prevent the apartment from being sold so that the proceeds would not, in his words, go “to support the AFU or to propaganda and slander.” He declined to explain how exactly he believes she could be stripped of the property.
The article notes that on April 21, 2025, Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing confiscation of property for a number of offenses, including cases involving “discrediting the army” and spreading false information about the armed forces. Lawyers cited in the report say that to seize real estate, authorities would still have to prove that the property was used in activity aimed at undermining state security and that it was purchased with proceeds from a crime. Stepanova says she does not know whether criminal cases have been opened against her, although she recently learned of a new administrative charge related to the “foreign agent” labeling rules on social media.
Anna Stepanova previously took part in protests against the construction of a landfill at Shiyes and says she faced pressure, threats and surveillance even then. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, three administrative cases were opened against her. She now lives in Germany with her husband and children, works as a blogger and volunteer, and openly supports Ukraine.