Dmitry Arkhipov is a political prisoner

A janitor from the Omsk Oblast was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of financing and justifying terrorism over an Instagram post

Dmitry Arkhipov worked as a janitor in the village of Belogrivka in the Bolsheukovsky District of the Omsk Oblast. He followed opposition figures and independent media outlets on Instagram. In January 2024, Arkhipov reposted to his page a text calling for donations to the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) for the purchase of drones. The text was accompanied by the words ‘GLORY TO THE RVC’ and the hashtag ‘#deathtoorcoccupiers’.

On 18 May 2024, Arkhipov was detained and placed in pre-trial detention on charges of justifying terrorism and financing terrorism. In April 2025, a court sentenced him to 11 years of imprisonment: the first three years in a prison facility, followed by the remainder of the term in a strict-regime penal colony.

According to the verdict, Arkhipov was convicted under ‘terrorism’ articles solely because the RDK has been designated a terrorist organisation in Russia. We consider this designation unlawful: supporting a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that is resisting Russian aggression, and calling for donations to it, should not be treated as a criminal offence.

There are strong grounds to believe that Arkhipov’s prosecution resulted from a provocation by the Russian security services. The court cited a Telegram channel from which Arkhipov allegedly copied the text, yet that channel was created after the publication appeared and is not an official RDK channel. It is possible that Arkhipov actually copied the text from another source but came to the attention of the authorities after interacting with one of the fake channels operated for surveillance purposes.

A detailed description of Dmitry Arkhipov’s case and of our position is available on our website.

How can you help?

You can write to Dmitry Arkhipov at the following address:

Ru:

457670, Челябинская область, г. Верхнеуральск, ул. Северная, д. 1, ФКУ Т ГУФСИН России по Челябинской области, Архипов Дмитрий Григорьевич, 1999 г. р.

En:

Prison of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Chelyabinsk Oblast, 1 Severnaya Street, Verkhneuralsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, 457670, Russia, Dmitry Grigorievich Arkhipov, born 1999.

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.