Roman Mayorov is a political prisoner
A resident of Moscow Oblast has been sentenced to almost five years in a penal colony for WhatsApp correspondence that the investigative authorities deemed ‘collusion with foreigners’
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Roman Mayorov a political prisoner. Mayorov was convicted of ‘collusion with a foreign state, international or foreign organisation’ for correspondence in a messenger app. Mayorov’s criminal prosecution and conviction violated his right to a fair trial. We demand the immediate release of Roman Mayorov and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.
What were the charges against Roman Mayorov?
Roman Mayorov is a businessman living in the town of Shchyolkovo in Moscow Oblast. Detained on 21 March 2024, over the following two months he was sentenced to a series of jail terms handed down by five different courts in Moscow Oblast on trumped-up administrative-law charges.
On 29 May 2024, a Moscow court remanded Mayorov in custody on criminal charges. According to the prosecution, from December 2023 to January 2024 Mayorov had corresponded on WhatsApp with ‘Ukrainian intelligence agent’ Dmytro Karpenko. It can be assumed that this refers to Ukrainian blogger Dmytro Karpenko, who runs a YouTube channel on which he publishes interviews with Russian prisoners of war. In the autumn of 2023, Karpenko announced the project ‘Apostle Pays Money’ under which he offered Russians money to send information via WhatsApp about the location of troops, military factories, air defence and electronic warfare facilities.
On 7 April 2025, Mayorov was sentenced to four years and ten months in a penal colony and a fine of 300,000 roubles.
Why do we consider Roman Mayorov a political prisoner?
The offence of ‘collusion’ was introduced into the Russian Criminal Code in July 2022 and has since become yet one more tool used by the authorities to combat ‘internal enemies.’ The law’s provisions do not comply with the principle of legal certainty, essentially serving to criminalise any communication between Russian citizens and foreigners. The law provides for punishment not for specific actions, but merely for an alleged intention to ‘facilitate’ some undefined ‘activity.’
The law on ‘collusion’ must be repealed, all related criminal convictions quashed, and ongoing charges dropped.
Mayorov’s criminal case became known after a series of administrative-law jail terms over two months. This is a practice typically used to intimidate an individual by holding them on remand on trumped-up administrative charges while criminal charges are being prepared.
If Mayorov’s actions constituted a crime and the investigative authorities had sufficient evidence, he would have been charged with a different offence. By using the law on ‘collusion’, the security forces intimidate society and dispense with the need to prove the guilt of the accused.
A detailed description of Roman Mayorov’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
If you have information about the detention centre or penal colony where Roman Mayorov is being held, please let us know by email: [email protected]
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
