Press Release, 31.10.2026

Photo: Maxim Kruglov in court, February 2026 / Photo by Darya Kornilova

Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov has been held in Pre-trial Detention Facility No. 1 (SIZO-1) in Yaroslavl, known as Korovniki, since 24 October. The politician has been placed in a special block together with prisoners held under terrorism articles. In his letter, he described the harsh conditions of his detention.

“…The conditions here are a total disaster; not even ‘Matrosskaya Tishina’ [detention facility in Moscow] comes close. I am being held in a special block, supposedly with ‘terrorists’ […]. There is no hot water, not even in theory: there is just one plastic pipe with a plastic garden tap on it, which, of course, doesn’t work very well. The toilet is a ceramic hole in the floor, and to keep out the noise from it, the previous inmates came up with an elaborate contraption to cover it. There is no broom and no rags. There is no prison ‘shop’…”

The date on which Maxim Kruglov will be sent to a penal colony is not yet known.

It should be noted that on 24 June 2026, the court sentenced the politician to seven years’ imprisonment under the article on disseminating “knowingly false information” about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation over his posts on Telegram. On 31 August, the appeal court upheld the sentence.

Kruglov has been in custody since 1 October 2025. Before his transfer to Yaroslavl, he was held in the Butyrka pre-trial detention facility in Moscow. Yabloko considers the criminal prosecution of Kruglov politically motivated and demands his release.