Grigory Severin

A resident of Voronezh. He holds a PhD in Physics and Mathematics and is a civil activist. He has repeatedly faced pressure from the authorities. In November 2020, he was fined for participating in a solidarity action with the residents of Khabarovsk Krai protesting the arrest of the region's former governor, Sergey Furgal. In January 2021, Severin was sentenced to five days of administrative arrest for holding a picket in support of Alexei Navalny.
His criminal prosecution became known in February 2021. The case was based on a VKontakte post from December 19, 2019.
On that day, a resident of Podolsk, Yevgeny Manyurov, opened fire near the FSB building at Lubyanka Square. According to the investigation, Severin allegedly commented "cut the KGB scum" under a post about the shooting. He denied guilt, stating that he had not posted the alleged comment. Additionally, another criminal case was opened against him for insulting a public official after he posted a photo during a search captioned: "‘We'll break through,’ said the condoms."

On August 23, 2022, Severin was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment in a settlement colony.
On July 5, 2023, at the request of the colony administration, a court ordered Severin's transfer to a general-regime penal colony. The appellate court upheld this decision on December 12, even though Severin had already been released on August 4, 2023. However, on August 22, 2023, the court recalculated his time spent under house arrest at the rate of two days of house arrest for one day of imprisonment and ordered the released activist to serve an additional 84 days in the colony. On December 14, 2023, the appellate court overturned this decision and returned the case to the first-instance court. On July 19, 2024, the court again ordered Severin to serve 84 more days in the colony. He was taken back into custody and sent to the colony. On September 6, 2024, Severin was released.

On April 22, 2025, Severin's home was searched in connection with a criminal case for discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, allegedly due to conversations with inmates about the war while he was in the colony. The next day, he was taken into custody.

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