Press Release, 22 December 2025

Photo: Maxim Kruglov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The Perovsky District Court of Moscow scheduled two hearings on Maxim Kruglov’s case on the same day, 23 December: an appeal against the arrest of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov and an investigative motion to extend his detention. Both hearings will take place at the Perovsky Court with a six-hour interval between them.

The appeal against Maxim Kruglov’s arrest is scheduled for consideration on 23 December at 12:15.

The investigative motion to extend Kruglov’s detention in remand prison will be considered on the same day at 17:50.

The first hearing (the appeal) will be conducted by a Moscow City Court judge, the second by a Zamoskvoretsky District Court judge.

Both hearings will take place at the Perovsky Court building in Moscow due to extensive renovations of courts premises. The address of Moscow’s Perovsky District Court is: Kuskovskaya 8.

Maxim Kruglov will be present in person at the hearings.

It should be noted that Maxim has been deprived of liberty since 1 October and officially arrested since 2 October on charges of publicly spreading “fakes” about the army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Yabloko is convinced that this charge has no real basis and is part of political pressure on independent voices.

On 25 November, the Zamoskvoretsky Distrcit Court of Moscow extended the arrest of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov for one month – until 29 December. Speaking in court, Kruglov’s defence emphasised that the investigation not only had no arguments in favour of arrest, but also had no grounds to prosecute the politician at all. Moreover, the case materials were carelessly compiled, contained gross errors, and the arguments in favour of arrest did not comply with the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code.