Ivan Tishchenko and Valery Ledkov are political prisoners
Tishchenko has been sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment while Ledkov awaits trial under house arrest for making donations to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Ivan Tishchenko and Valery Ledkov as political prisoners. The two men have been prosecuted on a charge of financing extremist activity for making donations to Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Their prosecution violates their rights to freedom of association and fair trial. We demand the release of Tishchenko and Ledkov and an end to all criminal prosecutions related to donations made to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
What were the charges in the cases of Ivan Tishchenko and Valery Ledkov?
On 9 June 2021, the Moscow City Court declared Aleksei Navalny’s three organisations, including the Anti-Corruption Foundation, extremist. This ruling came into effect on 4 August 2021.
The following day, Navalny’s team appealed to its supporters, suggesting that donations could be made anonymously via the Stripe payment service.
On 6 September 2022, the first criminal cases linked to donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation became known. According to our information, at least 29 people have since been charged with financing extremism (Article 282.3, Part 1, of the Russian Criminal Code). Initially, the law enforcement authorities exploited a technical error that occurred on the first day of the donations when the purpose of payment was indicated in payment confirmations received by donors. Subsequently, law enforcement authorities used information about recipients’ identification numbers at a US bank, although no connection between such numbers and the Anti-Corruption Foundation was ever proven.
At least 14 people have already been convicted in these cases and sentenced to heavy fines or suspended terms of imprisonment.
Ivan Tishchenko became the first person to receive a real term of imprisonment solely for donating to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Tishchenko, a heart surgeon from Moscow, was arrested on 26 September 2024 on a charge of making seven $10 transfers in 2021. He was then placed under house arrest. On 24 December, Tishchenko was sentenced to four years in a general-regime penal colony and was taken into custody in the courtroom.
In January 2025, it became known that a second person had been charged in a similar case. On 28 December 2024, Valery Ledkov from Khanty-Mansiysk, a specialist in Ob-Ugric ethnic folklore, was placed under house arrest for donating 300 roubles to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. His son, Konstantin Ledkov, is also facing a politically motivated prosecution.
Why do we consider Tishchenko and Ledkov political prisoners?
Analysis of the decision by the Moscow City Court to designate Navalny’s organisations as extremist shows this ruling to be politically motivated and unlawful.
Firstly, no evidence of extremist activity by these organisations was presented. Politically motivated administrative and criminal cases against individual staff members do not constitute such evidence.
Secondly, while the regular government audits of the Anti-Corruption Foundation had failed to find any evidence of extremist activity, nonetheless their findings were considered by the court as proof of extremism.
Ivan Tishchenko stated that he donated to the Anti-Corruption Foundation before it was designated as extremist and simply forgot to cancel his recurring donation. Valery Ledkov’s position on the charge remains unknown. In any case, donating to the Anti-Corruption Foundation is not a crime. The criminal prosecutions of Tishchenko and Ledkov are based on the unlawful ruling by the Moscow City Court and therefore are also politically motivated and unlawful.
A description of Ivan Tishchenko’s and Valery Ledkov’s cases and of our position is available on our website.
Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the project, ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial,’ agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.
How can you help?
You can write to Ivan Tishchenko at the following address:
In Russian:
127081, г. Москва, ул. Вилюйская, д. 4, ФКУ СИЗО-4 ГУФСИН России по г. Москве, Тищенко Ивану Сергеевичу 1978 г. р.
In English:
Ivan Sergeevich Tishchenko (born 1978), Remand Prison No. 4, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Moscow, 4 Vilyuykaya Street, Moscow, 127081, Russia.
You can also send an email via the F-Pismo and ZT services (for payment with Russian bank cards), PrisonMail (for payment with other bank cards), OVD-Info and Memorial-France (free of charge).
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the recipient.
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
