Russian councillor detained over 2017 social media post mentioning Navalny

A councillor from Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region was detained at a railway station in St. Petersburg on Tuesday and charged with sharing symbols of an “extremist organisation” over a 2017 social media post in which he mentioned the then-leader of the Rusisan opposition Alexey Navalny, state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported.

Ivan Apostolevsky, who heads the Communist Party faction in the region’s parliament, was detained by officials from Centre E, an anti-extremism unit known for persecuting opposition activists, upon his arrival in St. Petersburg early on Tuesday morning, having just returned from a working visit to China, local news outlet 47news wrote.

Facing a fine of up to 3,000 rubles (€31) or an administrative arrest of up to 15 days if found guilty, Apostolevsky told 47news that he was charged over a 2017 social media post, though he denied posting anything related to Navalny and linked his detention to his political activity, namely his stance on garbage reform and landfills, and his support for the Communist Party’s candidate for governor of the Leningrad region, Larisa Mukhina.

Independent news outlet Bumaga found a post on Apostolevsky’s VK page, in which he said the Communist Party had launched an inquiry following an investigation by Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) detailing the corruption of former president Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia’s prime minister at the time.

This is not the first time Russian citizens have been detained for social media posts about Navalny or the FBK, which has been deemed “an extremist organisation” by the Russian government. In May, a 21-year-old activist was arrested for eight days for posting a photo of Navalny. Apostolevsky himself was briefly detained in 2023 for organising a protest against the construction of a Rusal alumina refinery in the Leningrad region.