Press Release, 8.06.2026

Photo: Grei Boltachev after his release from the special detention facility on 8 June 2026 / Photo by Vechernie Vedomosti

Grei Boltachev, a prominent Russian physicist, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and leading research fellow at the Institute of Electrophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has been released in Alapayevsk (Sverdlovsk Region) following his arrest.

Boltachev was detained on 3 June at the Institute, where security service officers also seized his personal and work equipment. On 4 June, he was arrested by the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg on charges of alleged use of obscene language in a public place — that is, under Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“petty hooliganism”). The regional branch of Yabloko linked his prosecution to his intention to stand for the party in elections to the State Duma and the regional Legislative Assembly.

“We have no doubt whatsoever as to Dr Boltachev’s innocence,” Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov had said previously, drawing attention to the unscrupulous methods employed by the law enforcement officers conducting the prosecution.

Today, 8 June, Grei Boltachev was met outside the special detention facility in Alapayevsk by colleagues and journalists, including Vladimir Sobyanin, a member of Yabloko’s regional council.

Speaking to journalists, Grei Boltachev said he had not accepted the charges brought against him.

“The [petty hooliganism] charge is easily disproved,” Sotavision quotes the scientist as saying. “I wanted to support my beloved Yabloko and was intending to stand [in the forthcoming September elections], I was ready, I had already gathered all the documents. But this fantastical accusation of disorderly conduct and foul language… [laughs]. Even the judge’s jaw dropped, but I was locked up for those five days.”

Boltachev noted that he had been accused of causing a disturbance in Universitetsky Lane, a street he does not even know the location of. He also recounted that he had been detained at 14:00 on 3 June, yet the police did not permit him to eat until 23:00 on 4 June, when he was being transferred to the Alapayevsk special detention facility. “I don’t think that’s right,” Boltachev concluded.

It should be noted that Grei Boltachev has previously stood in elections as a Yabloko candidate. In 2023, in the elections to the Yekaterinburg City Duma, he was placed in the top three on the party list. The list came fifth overall with 9.24% of the vote; in a number of Yekaterinburg districts, however, Yabloko candidates received over 20% of the vote, surpassing the United Russia list.