Daria Egereva

She is an activist advocating for the rights of the Selkups (to which she herself belongs) and other indigenous peoples. On 17 December 2025, she was detained in Moscow and taken into custody the next day on charges of participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation in connection with her involvement in the Aborigen Forum, an informal association of experts of small indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. This organisation was added to the list of terrorist organisations in 2024 as a “structural subdivision” of the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia. Even earlier, it was added to the list of extremist organisations. Immediately after that, it ceased its activities.

Egereva represented the Centre for Assistance to Indigenous Minorities of the North, which was a part of the Aborigen Forum. International organisations of indigenous peoples link the prosecution of the activist with her participation in the work of the UN concerning indigenous issues. They also noted that the Aborigen Forum had conducted legitimate and peaceful activities.

The homes of at least 17 human rights defenders and activists defending the rights of indigenous peoples were searched in several other regions as part of Egereva’s case. One of those who were visited by law enforcement officers, Alexei Chispiakov, spoke at the UN in the spring of 2025 criticising the attitude of the Russian authorities towards indigenous peoples.

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