Grigorii Severin

Resident of Voronezh. PhD student of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, civil activist. He has repeatedly faced pressure from the authorities. In November 2020, he was fined in connection with a solidarity action with residents of Khabarovsk Krai who were protesting against the arrest of the region's ex-governor, Sergey Furgal. In January 2021, Severin was arrested for five days because of a picket in support of Alexei Navalny.
The criminal prosecution of Severin became known in February 2021. The reason for arrest was a post on "VKontakte" dated 19 December 2019. On that day, a resident of Podolsk, Evgeny Manyurov, opened fire outside the FSB building on Lubyanka. According to the investigation, Severin allegedly wrote "cut the Chekitsts" on his page under a post about the shooting. He did not admit guilt, saying that he did not write the corresponding comment. In addition, a case of insulting a representative of the authorities was brought against him because on the day of the search he published a photo with the caption "'We'll break through,' said the condoms".

On 23 August 2022, Severin was sentenced to two years in a penal colony.
On 5 July 2023, at the request of the colony administration, the court decided to transfer Severin to a general regime colony. The appellate court upheld this decision on 12 December, despite the fact that Severin had already been released on 4 August 2023. However, on 22 August 2023, the court recalculated Severin's time spent under house arrest at the rate of two days of house arrest per day of imprisonment and ordered the released activist to spend another 84 days in the colony. On 14 December 2023, the appellate court reversed this decision and returned the case to the court of first instance. On 19 July 2024, the court again ordered Severin to spend 84 days in the colony. He was again taken into custody, after which he was sent to the colony. On 6 September 2024, Severin was released.

On 22 April 2025, Severin was searched in connection with a case of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces due to conversations with prisoners in the colony about the war. The next day he was taken into custody. On 28 February 2026, Severin was sentenced in this case to three years in a strict regime colony.

You can read more about politically persecuted people in the Telegram channel OVD-Info LIVE and our database of politically motivated criminal prosecutions.