Russian political prisoner Alexei Gorinov still being held in solitary confinement, denied medication despite serious illness

Supporters of Russian political prisoner Alexei Gorinov report that prison officials have confiscated his medications and extended his time in solitary confinement. Gorinov, who previously underwent serious treatment and had part of a lung removed, was transferred to Penal Colony No. 10 in the city of Rubtsovsk in Western Siberia, where he was immediately placed in a punishment cell (also known as a “SHIZO”). His stay there was recently extended by two additional weeks.

Gorinov described the conditions as “torturous.” Prison officials reportedly confiscated not only his medications, but also all of his writing materials and the documents he would need in order to file complaints. According to Gorinov, the colony’s administration acts with hostility, constantly inventing pretexts for punishment. The facility’s warden allegedly claimed that certain letters in Gorinov’s signature resembled symbols of an “extremist organization.”

In May, Gorinov’s lawyer, Ekaterina Tertukhina, said that her client showed signs of tuberculosis during his transfer — a serious threat given that a portion of his lung had previously been removed. Despite this, Gorinov was kept in cold cells. In early June, he was hospitalized with acute bronchitis. On July 15, he said he was recovering and that he was preparing to be transferred back to the colony.

In the early months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Gorinov, who at the time was a municipal deputy in Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district, became the first person ever convicted under Article 207.3 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which criminalizes spreading “false information” about the Russian army. On July 8, 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony for expressing sympathy for Ukrainian children during a municipal council meeting. An appeal later reduced the sentence by one month.

In 2023, Gorinov faced new charges under Article 205.2 (“justification of terrorism”) over remarks he allegedly made to other inmates about the Kerch Bridge and the Azov Battalion. On Nov. 29, 2024, a military court added three years to his sentence.