Denis Bushtet is a political prisoner
A cossack from Primorsky Krai was sentenced to 13 years for treason for telling a Ukrainian volunteer about volunteers who had gone to war
Denis Bushtet, from the town of Spassk-Dalny in Primorsky Krai, worked as a lawyer. He was involved in the Cossack movement and organised Rodnover (Slavic neopagan) circle dances. He was raising two adopted children and, during the floods in Primorsky Krai in the summer of 2023, rescued more than 300 dogs that had been left chained up.
Bushtet opposed the war against Ukraine, viewing it as a conflict between two brotherly peoples. This put him at odds with a fellow Cossack friend who, in the autumn of 2022, decided to go to war as a volunteer. After unsuccessfully trying to change his mind and quarrelling with him, Bushtet shared his concerns with a Ukrainian acquaintance who was also a Rodnover. He sent her photographs of Cossack volunteers and information about where they had been deployed.
Bushtet was arrested in November 2023. The security services claim that his acquaintance was raising funds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and could have passed the information on to the Ukrainian military. They interpreted Bushtet’s message, “you can, damn it, leak it openly,” as a direct instruction to do so. He was charged with high treason in the form of providing other assistance to a representative of a foreign state in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation (Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code).
On March 27, 2025, Bushtet was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony.
We consider Bushtet’s prosecution unlawful. An employee of a charitable foundation is not a representative of a foreign state. She did not ask Bushtet for any information, and his actions were impulsive. Moreover, we have serious doubts that the information he shared about the deployment of volunteer units could have been of any practical use to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Even if it could have been used, it would have threatened not Russia’s security, but rather its offensive military capabilities.
A detailed description of Denis Bushtet’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
You can write to Denis Bushtet at the following address:
Ru:
677004, Республика Саха (Якутия), г. Якутск, ул. Очиченко, 25, ФКУ ИК-1 УФСИН России по Республике Саха (Якутия), Буштет Денис Владимирович, 1982 г. р.
En:
Penal Colony No. 1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), 25 Ochichenko St., Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), 677004, Russia, Bushtet Denis Vladimirovich, born 1982.
You can also send emails via the ZT service (for payment with all bank cards), and Memorial-France (free of charge).
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
