Participants in protest movements are detained in St. Petersburg

The headline of the news was changed after the appearance of information about more detainees. OVD-Info is aware of three: Roman Samoilov, Svetlana Utkina, Pavel Chuprunov and Valentin Khoroshenin.

In St. Petersburg, a participant in the “indefinite protest” Roman Samoilov was detained. He himself informed OVD-Info about this.

Around half past seven in the morning, the police came to his hostel. The officers said that they had to take the activist to the department to draw up a protocol on an administrative offense. The article, as well as the reason for drawing up the protocol, the police did not name.

They also did not explain to Samoilov which department they would take him to. At the time of the conversation with OVD-Info, the man was still in the car, later he stopped communicating and answering calls, so his location remains unknown.

10:05 Roman Samoilov got in touch and said that he had not yet been brought to the department - the police had been just taking him around the city for several hours.

At 7:30 a.m., the police also pounded on the door of Open Russia council member Yevgeny Litvinova. She herself told OVD-Info about this. The activist believes that the employees have already left the landing.

The police officers explained their actions by the fact that Litvinova regularly commits administrative offenses. The woman herself connects the arrival of the security forces with a general increase in pressure on activists before the May Day demonstrations.

10:28 Viasna activist Svetlana Utkina was detained near her house. This was reported in the telegram channel "Help for detainees in St. Petersburg".

The police explained the detention by KUSP, that is, anonymous complaints from citizens. The woman is being taken to police station No. 1.

The officers also detained Pavel Chuprunov, there is no detailed information about this yet.

10:41 Chuprunov told OVD-Info that he was brought to police station No. 78. Activist Valentin Khoroshenin was detained along with him.

According to Chuprunov, he filmed police officers who were trying to detain Khoroshenin and another activist, Anastasia Osipova, on a phone camera. In the end, the girl was not detained.

Chuprunov said that his passport had already been taken away from him.

15:06 All four were released from the police department. Utkina and Chuprunov were released on a promise to appear. A protocol was drawn up against Samoilov under part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of the rules for holding an event) due to participation in a rally in support of the defendants in the Network and New Greatness cases on October 28. Whether a protocol was drawn up against Khoroshenin is unknown.