{"id":62079,"date":"2025-10-23T08:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-viktora-nikitina\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:48:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:48:05","slug":"viktor-nikitin-is-a-political-prisoner","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/viktor-nikitin-is-a-political-prisoner\/","title":{"rendered":"Viktor Nikitin is a political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Khabarovsk resident has been sentenced to five years in a penal colony on a charge of \u2018collusion\u2019 with foreigners<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project, in accordance with<\/strong> international standards<\/strong><\/a>, considers Viktor Nikitin a political prisoner. Nikitin was convicted on a charge of \u2018collusion\u2019 with a foreign state. Nikitin\u2019s prosecution and conviction violated his right to a fair trial. We demand the immediate release of Viktor Nikitin and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were the charges against Viktor Nikitin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the prosecution, Viktor Nikitin spoke out against Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine. Furthermore, in April 2024 he allegedly established contact with a representative of the Ukrainian security services via a messaging app \u2018to carry out activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation.\u2019 The alleged representative gave Nikitin the task of collecting and passing on to him information about military facilities in Khabarovsk Krai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 28 April 2024, Viktor Nikitin was detained. However, it appears he was only officially remanded in custody at the beginning of June. Nikitin was then charged with collusion with a foreign state in order to carry out activities directed against the security of Russia (Article 275.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 6 June 2025, a court in Khabarovsk sentenced Viktor Nikitin in a closed trial to five years in a general regime penal colony with a further 18 months\u2019 probation on release and a fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we consider Viktor Nikitin a political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article on \u2018collusion\u2019 was adopted into law in July 2022. It has since become yet another tool in the regime\u2019s fight against \u2018internal enemies.\u2019 The article\u2019s provisions do not comply with the principle of legal certainty. In essence, this law criminalizes any communication between Russian citizens and foreigners; moreover, it provides for punishment not for specific actions, but merely for an alleged intention to \u2018facilitate\u2019 an undefined \u2018activity.\u2019 The article on \u2018collusion\u2019 must be repealed, all related criminal convictions quashed and ongoing prosecutions closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its report, the FSB limited itself to stating that Nikitin had \u2018established contact\u2019 and \u2018received an assignment.\u2019 Most likely, then, Nikitin neither actually collected information about military facilities, nor even expressed a readiness to do so. Otherwise the FSB report would have definitively stated this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, we believe that a rejection of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, and attempts to help that country, are beneficial to Russian society and therefore cannot be subject to criminal prosecution, let alone imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

You can write to Viktor Nikitin at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

682640, \u0425\u0430\u0431\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u0439, \u0433. \u0410\u043c\u0443\u0440\u0441\u043a, \u0448\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0435 \u041c\u0430\u0448\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0435\u0439, \u0434. 10, \u0424\u041a\u0423 \u0418\u041a-14 \u0423\u0424\u0421\u0418\u041d \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u0425\u0430\u0431\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u044e, \u041d\u0438\u043a\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043d\u0443 \u0412\u0438\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0443 \u0412\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0440\u044c\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447\u0443, 1988 \u0433. \u0440. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Viktor Valeryevich Nikitin (born 1988), Penal Colony No. 14, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Khabarovsk Krai, 10 Shosse Mashinostroiteley, Amursk, Khabarovsk Krai, 682640, Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also send emails via <\/a>ZT<\/a> (for payment with all bank cards) and Memorial-France<\/a> (free of charge).<\/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\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-62079","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","regions-khabarovsk-krai","news-type-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nViktor Nikitin is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Khabarovsk resident has been sentenced to five years in a penal colony on a charge of \u2018collusion\u2019 with foreigners\" \/>\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\/viktor-nikitin-is-a-political-prisoner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Viktor Nikitin is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. 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