Press Release, 10.11.2023

Photo: Olga Tuzhikova / Photo from Olga Tuzhikova’s personal archive

On the morning of 10 November, a search was carried out in the apartment of Olga Tuzhikova, a Yabloko deputy of the Petrozavodsk City Council. Tuzhikova is a witness in the case initiated under the article on calls for activities directed against the security of the state (Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). During the search, the politician’s phone and computer were confiscated. Tuzhikova was summoned for questioning by the Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee. According to her relatives, she has been under interrogation by the Federal Security Service since 14:00 (Moscow time).

Olga Tuzhikova is engaged in legislative activities in the Petrozavodsk City Council related to protection of environment and landscaping, as well as human rights. From the beginning of the special military operation, Tuzhikova helped those entitled to mobilisation to obtain medical examinations.

It was reported that a warrant to search the deputy’s apartment was issued by the Garrison Military Court of Petrozavodsk. The Federal Security Service officers also seized documents from Olga Tuzhikova regarding the case of a serviceman, whose interests she was going to represent in court.

Since 24 February, 2022, police and officers of the Federal Security Service have conducted 32 searches or inspections of the premises of at least 25 Yabloko members and supporters, as well as in the offices of three regional branches of the party (in the Pskov region, Bashkiria and Yakutia). Investigative actions also took place within the framework of criminal cases under articles of military censorship against Yabloko members Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Mikhail Afanasyev, Nikolai Yegorov, Vasily Neustroyev and Vladimir Yefimov.

Read more about persecution of Yabloko members since the start of the special military operation: https://www.yabloko.ru/war-against-yabloko