Igor Ranav is a political prisoner
Chukotka businessman and public figure sentenced to two years in a penal settlement for posting an image with the St. George ribbon
Igor Ranav is a public figure and blogger from the town of Pevek and a former head of a branch of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Chukotka. A successful entrepreneur in the field of ethnic tourism, he advocates for preserving the traditional way of life of Indigenous peoples and developing the region.
A criminal case was opened against Ranav in August 2025. According to the investigation, in March 2022, he posted on social media an image of a banner with a St. George ribbon on a blue background and an obscene inscription superimposed on it. The investigators deemed the post a desecration of a symbol of Russia’s military glory and charged Ranav under Part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. Before his trial, he was subject to restrictions on certain activities.
In February 2026, a Moscow court found Ranav guilty and sentenced him to two years in a penal settlement, as well as banning him from administering internet resources for four years. In June, the appeal court upheld the sentence, which then came into force. Apparently, Ranav arrived at the penal settlement at the end of July.
The post for which Ranav was sentenced to imprisonment appeared shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this context, the image of a banner with an offensive inscription on a St. George ribbon, which had become a symbol of Russian military aggression, was clearly an expression of an anti-war position. At the same time, Article 354.1 of the Russian Criminal Code contains vague provisions that allow people to be prosecuted for acts that do not pose a public danger.
This is not the first time Ranav has been persecuted for his public statements. Since 2022, he has repeatedly faced administrative prosecution over anti-war statements he made online. In court, he said that “there should be no war in principle” and that politicians should resolve disputes through diplomatic means.
A detailed description of Igor Ranav’s case and of our position is available on our website.
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