For the first time, the Russian authorities announced the number of people detained at protests in the winter of 2021 - 17.6 thousand people. This is a third more than human rights activists estimate

The Russian authorities for the first time reported to the UN on the number of detainees during the all-Russian protests in January-February of this year. project drew attention to the response of the Russian Federation to the UN Human Rights Council The OVD-info .

In a letter sent to the UN, the Russian authorities report about 17,600 citizens brought to police departments after opposition rallies in the winter. Previously, state structures did not publish such data. The OVD-info project was able to trace over 11,000 cases of detention following actions.

The answer was submitted to the UN on April 20, but published only now.

Referring to the data of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Russia emphasizes that as of February 1, 2021, only seven defendants in cases under the “Dadin” article 212.1 of the Criminal Code on repeated violations of rally rules were in the pre-trial detention center. At the same time, human rights activists are aware of only one case of arrest under this article to date - the case of Pavel Khokhlov.

In addition, the Russian authorities stated that those convicted under the "Dadin" article in the period 2017-2019. missing.

OVD-info notes that in 2019 alone, at least two convictions were made under this article - to Andrey Borovikov and Konstantin Kotov.

Also, the Russian authorities call the protests on January 23 and 31 and February 2 in Russian cities "illegal" on the grounds that local authorities were not notified of their holding.

The response does not mention violations at the actions by the police and the National Guard, their actions are called “adequate”. At the same time, the investigation in St. Petersburg still cannot establish the identity of the security official who kicked 55-year-old Margarita Yudina in the stomach, although he allegedly came to her hospital with an apology. In May, the Investigative Committee refused to open a case on the fact of the use of violence.

In a report to the UN, the Russian authorities also rejected reports of poor conditions for detainees and overcrowding in cells. They called information about violations on the Internet unreliable. At the same time, those detained after the winter actions in Moscow were sent to detention centers for migrants precisely because of the overcrowding of the special detention cells.

In May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation refused to provide human rights activists from Team 29 and OVD-Info with information about those detained at winter rallies, allegedly because of the law on personal data.

Protests took place across Russia on January 23, 31 and February 2, 2021, following the return to Russia of politician Alexei Navalny and his immediate detention, and then arrest and imprisonment. Then more than 11 thousand people were detained, thousands of protesters were sent under arrest, criminal cases were opened on violation of sanitary standards, violence against police officers, road closures and other articles.