Press Release, 11.03.2026

Photo: Maxim Kruglov in court on 27 February 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 11 March, Natalia Tikhonova, the lawyer representing Yabloko Deputy Chair Maxim Kruglov, shared several updates relating to her client’s detention in Remand Prison No. 2, Butyrka, in Moscow, where Kruglov is being held on charges of spreading “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces. According to his defence, the politician has been unable to obtain from Butyrka any information about his correspondence with the Public Monitoring Commission or about his own monetary account at the Federal Penitentiary Service facility. In addition, he has stopped receiving books from the remand prison library and newspapers to which he holds a paid subscription.

Firstly, Natalia Tikhonova explained, Maxim Kruglov has not been provided with proof that his applications to the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission regarding attendance at the remand prison church have been sent. No response from the observers of the Commission has been received either.

Secondly, neither Kruglov nor his defence team has been able to obtain a statement of his monetary account at the Federal Penitentiary Service facility from the remand prison.

Thirdly, Kruglov has been registered by the remand prison as a person “prone to committing crimes of an extremist and terrorist nature,” yet no documents to this effect have been issued to him despite repeated requests.

Furthermore, his defence notes that Kruglov has been unable to borrow books from the remand prison library for two weeks. He has also stopped receiving newspapers, subscriptions to which he has paid for through to April and June.

“All of this is deeply troubling. Maxim Kruglov is a deeply religious man, and attending church is a serious matter for him, one that he feels very acutely,” Natalia Tikhonova observed. “Moreover, while in the remand prison, Maxim reads a great deal, and access to the library is equally important to him, as is the press to which he subscribes. Refusing to deliver printed publications that have been paid for is, certainly, outrageous. We shall be filing complaints with the relevant authorities.”

It should be noted that Yabloko Deputy Chair Maxim Kruglov has been deprived of his liberty since 1 October 2025 and was remanded in custody the following day on charges of publicly spreading “fake news” about the army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Yabloko is firmly convinced that these charges have no basis in fact and form part of a campaign of political pressure on the party.

On 13 February 2026, the investigative proceedings in Maxim Kruglov’s case were concluded, with the charges against him remaining unchanged.

On 27 February, the court again extended the politician’s remand in custody, stating in doing so that Kruglov had allegedly conceived a plan to spread “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces as far back as 2020 — that is, two years before the relevant article was introduced into the Criminal Code.