Press Release, 27.02.2026

Photo: Maxim Kruglov before the court hearing on 26 February /Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 26 February, the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow considered for the fourth time the investigator’s motion to extend the pre-trial detention of Maxim Kruglov, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party. The investigation demanded that the politician remain in custody for “up to six months”, that is, until 2 April (counted from the date of his arrest on 2 October 2025). The case materials, however, indicate that Maxim Kruglov had allegedly conceived his “crime” (he is charged with spreading “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) as early as in 2020 — two years before the corresponding article appeared in the Criminal Code.

Dozens of Maxim’s students, friends, colleagues and Yabloko supporters came to the court to show their support for the politician, alongside members of his family. Among those present were party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, Chairman of Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov, member of the Bureau of the Moscow regional branch Andrei Lazarev, as well as diplomats from the embassies of New Zealand and the Czech Republic.

The hearing began 4.5 hours late. The judge explained that the delay was due to the conditions of the defendant’s transfer (because of weather) and her own involvement in other proceedings.

The investigator briefly requested that Maxim Kruglov’s pre-trial detention be extended to six months — until 2 April — citing, in particular, that the politician “holds a foreign passport” and could allegedly “go into hiding.” The prosecutor supported the motion.

Maxim Kruglov’s interests in court were represented by lawyers Natalia Tikhonova and Sergei Badamshin. In their submissions, they drew attention, among other things, to a glaring paradox in the criminal case. According to the case materials, Kruglov created a Telegram channel in 2020 with the alleged purpose of committing the offence with which he is now charged — spreading “fakes” about the Russian Armed Forces. Yet no such article existed in the Criminal Code in 2020, the defence emphasised.

The lawyers also referred to the position of the Constitutional Court, set out on 25 February 2026: the question of detaining a person in custody must not be decided arbitrarily. It should be noted that the grounds for ordering and extending pre-trial detention are set out in Article 97 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. There are three such grounds: that the individual “will abscond from the inquiry, preliminary investigation or court”; “may continue to engage in criminal activity”; or “may threaten a witness or other participants in the criminal proceedings, destroy evidence, or otherwise obstruct the proceedings”.

Maxim Kruglov meets none of these criteria and must therefore be released from custody, the lawyers insisted.

Maxim Kruglov himself addressed the court, recalling that the entire basis for opening this case was a single post in the Internet made three and a half years ago — one that expressed concern for people. Today, he observed, showing concern and being engaged had turned out to be the most dangerous of crimes.

The politician also noted that only one investigative action had been taken with his participation over five months in pre-trial detention: he had been taken to hospital for a psychological and psychiatric examination.

“The investigation’s motion [requesting an extension of pre-trial detention] contains a consideration that is apparently intended to serve as grounds for extending the measure of restraint,” Maxim Kruglov told the court. “It refers to the claim that I have, in the investigation’s view, ‘not been in a marital and family relationship with my wife for a long time.’ This is, firstly, untrue, and secondly, a very strange and subjective interpretation of my family life — one whose relevance as grounds for extending my detention is entirely unclear.”

He went on to remind the court that his foreign passport remained in the investigator’s possession, and that accordingly he had no means of going into hiding, nor any intention of doing so.

Maxim Kruglov then spoke about his positive character references, his academic work, his service in the Moscow City Duma (in its seventh convocation) and his work within the Yabloko party. He concluded his address by asking the court to replace the custodial measure of restraint with a non-custodial one.

The court then examined the case materials, including numerous “exclusively positive character references” for Maxim Kruglov, before retiring to reach its decision.

Returning after half an hour, the judge announced that the investigator’s motion had been granted.

This is a political decision, declared Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov after the hearing:

“This is already the fourth extension of Maxim’s detention! Over many months, the investigation has not provided a single genuinely coherent argument as to why our colleague should remain in pre-trial detention or what makes him so dangerous to society. The court has once again demonstrated that it reaches its decisions on the basis of political expediency alone. Yabloko continues to maintain that Maxim Kruglov is not guilty.”

It should be noted that Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov has been deprived of his liberty since 1 October 2025 and was arrested the following day 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 forms part of a campaign of political pressure against independent voices.

On 13 February 2026, the investigative actions in Maxim Kruglov’s case were concluded; the charges brought against him remained unchanged.