Press Release, 21.05.2026

Photo: Maxim Kruglov in court on 20 May 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 21 May, the Moscow City Court dismissed the defence’s appeal against the remand in custody of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov. It should be noted that at the first substantive hearing of Kruglov’s criminal case, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow granted the prosecution’s application and extended the politician’s remand by six months at a stroke.

Maxim Kruglov has been deprived of his liberty since 1 October 2025. He is charged with spreading “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) in connection with posts on social media.

The first substantive hearing of his criminal case took place on 22 April 2026, when a representative of the prosecution applied for an extension of Kruglov’s remand, arguing that “circumstances had not changed”, meaning the prosecution continued to maintain that Kruglov had both the intention and the means to abscond. This is entirely without foundation, the politician’s defence insists. Kruglov’s interests in court are represented by lawyers Natalia Tikhonova and Sergei Badamshin.

As early as the hearing on the prosecution’s application on 22 April, Sergei Badamshin argued that the grounds for imposing a custodial measure had in fact fallen away and thus changed, given that the court was now examining the substance of the case, and that there were accordingly no grounds for extending the remand.

The second substantive hearing took place on 6 May, when a prosecution witness appeared: a political scientist from the state-owned municipal utility services enterprise Zhilishchnik, 25-year-old Valery Somov, who, according to media reports, is a functionary of the pro-government United Russia party. In court, Somov stated that he had once been walking near the Lubyanka Square near the FSB (the Federal Security Service) building, when a FSB officer approached him and asked whether he knew Maxim Kruglov.

The third substantive hearing took place on 20 May. A prosecution witness from United Russia, 23-year-old Alina Matveyeva, testified that she was not in employment, took part in events organised by the Young Guard of United Russia, had made repeated trips to “the new territories,” and in December 2025 (by which point Kruglov had already been in custody for almost three months) had received a study assignment to “look into how politicians express their views on the special military operation”. She subsequently wrote a complaint against Kruglov (in the winter of 2026, whereas he was detained on 1 October 2025), after which she was summoned for questioning by someone described as “senior”, Matveyeva was unable to explain to the court exactly where the questioning had taken place, but stressed that “everyone who works in the security services is senior”.

The next substantive hearing is scheduled for 3 June, at which those previously mentioned by the first prosecution witness — United Russia member Valery Somov — are due to appear.