{"id":56575,"date":"2025-07-30T15:05:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T12:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T01:46:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T22:46:04","slug":"my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/","title":{"rendered":"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maksim<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project, in accordance with <\/strong>international criteria<\/strong><\/a>, considers Maksim Kuznetsov a political prisoner. Kuznetsov is being prosecuted on a charge of collusion with a representative of a foreign organisation or state for the purpose of assisting in activities known to be directed against the security of Russia. Kuznetsov\u2019s criminal prosecution violates his rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression. We demand that Maksim Kuznetsov be immediately released and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the charges against Maksim Kuznetsov?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criminal case against Maksim Kuznetsov became known in early April 2025. He was accused of collusion with a foreign state or organisation (Article 275.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). The maximum sentence for this offence is eight years’ imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuznetsov has been remanded in custody. His trial began on 28 April 2025 in Volgograd Oblast Court, but the details of the charges against him have not yet been disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we consider Maksim Kuznetsov a political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the lack of information about the charges against Maksim Kuznetsov, we believe his prosecution is political in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offence of \u2018collusion\u2019 was adopted into law in July 2022 against the backdrop of the war against Ukraine and growing Russian isolationism. It has become an additional instrument for political repression in Russia. The law\u2019s provisions criminalise any communication between Russian citizens and foreigners if, in the opinion of the prosecution, it is directed against the security of the state. The offence of \u2018collusion\u2019 applies not to specific actions, but merely to an alleged intention to \u2018facilitate\u2019 some undefined \u2018activity\u2019. This article of the Russian Criminal Code should be rescinded, and all related criminal cases closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we do not know the exact grounds for Kuznetsov\u2019s prosecution, if his actions had posed a real threat to the state or society, he would have been charged with a more serious offence. Prosecution for the offence of \u2018collusion\u2019 with foreigners indicates that Kuznetsov’s actions posed no such threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A detailed description of Maksim Kuznetsov\u2019s case and of our position is available on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any information about Maksim Kuznetsov’s date of birth or about his prosecution, please send it to us by email: help.political.prisoners@memohrc.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can write to Maksim Kuznetsov at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RU:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

400066, \u0433. \u0412\u043e\u043b\u0433\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0434, \u0443\u043b. \u0413\u043e\u043b\u0443\u0431\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f, \u0434. 3, \u0424\u041a\u0423 \u0421\u0418\u0417\u041e-1 \u0423\u0424\u0421\u0418\u041d \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u0412\u043e\u043b\u0433\u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0434\u0441\u043a\u043e\u0439 \u043e\u0431\u043b\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0438, \u041a\u0443\u0437\u043d\u0435\u0446\u043e\u0432 \u041c\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438\u043c \u0412\u0438\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EN:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maksim Viktorovich Kuznetsov, Remand Prison No. 1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Volgograd Oblast, 3 Golubinskaya Ulitsa, Volgograd, 400066, Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also send emails via the ZT<\/a> service (for payment with Russian bank cards).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can donate<\/a> to help all political prisoners in Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-56575","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","regions-volgograd-oblast","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Political prisoners support. Memorial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T22:46:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/\",\"name\":\"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T12:05:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T22:46:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u041d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/\",\"name\":\"\u041f\u043e\u0434\u0434\u0435\u0440\u0436\u043a\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0437\u0430\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0451\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445. \u041c\u0435\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0430\u043b\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial","description":"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial","og_description":"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner","og_url":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/","og_site_name":"Political prisoners support. Memorial","article_modified_time":"2026-03-18T22:46:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/","url":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/","name":"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png","datePublished":"2025-07-30T12:05:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T22:46:04+00:00","description":"A Volgograd resident faces up to eight years\u2019 imprisonment for communicating with a foreigner","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/kuznetsov-eng.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-maksima-kuzneczova\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0446\u0430","item":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u041d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438","item":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Maksim Kuznetsov is a political prisoner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/","name":"\u041f\u043e\u0434\u0434\u0435\u0440\u0436\u043a\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0437\u0430\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0451\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445. \u041c\u0435\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0430\u043b","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/56575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}