Translated material
"It's no use waiting for the light." Young anti-fascists face life imprisonment
In July 2026, Lyubov Lizunova will turn 20 years old. This will be the fourth birthday she will celebrate in prison. Now Lyuba is in IK-7 Ulan-Ude, and last spring, while her peers were choosing dresses for prom, she was in the Chita pre-trial detention center finishing notes for the 11th grade and reading Aristotle - a collection of treatises of one thousand four hundred pages. Lizunova has already received 3.5 years in prison, but now she could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
"Excellent student, the pride of the school"
She was detained in Chita on October 31, 2022, together with Alexander Snezhkov. She was 16 years old then. He is 19. They played in the same punk band. He is a vocalist, she is a drummer. Both consider themselves anti-fascists. Russia's invasion of Ukraine came as a shock to both.
After announcing “partial mobilization,” they painted the words “Death to the regime” on the wall of a shabby, ownerless garage somewhere on the outskirts of Chita using paint from a can. Soon two men approached them and showed them their IDs. As it turned out later, the security forces knew the place and time of their action from the very beginning, and the process of applying graffiti was secretly filmed on video.
“Sasha later figured out that most likely they hacked his correspondence on VKontakte - that’s how they found out where to guard them,” says Semyon, a friend of Snezhkov and Lizunova (the names of all interlocutors have been changed for their safety). “On the evening of their arrest, they were released home. And one of the investigators even said that he “understands their feelings” [about the war and mobilization]. And at the same time he did not try to spin them into anti-war statements. It seemed that everything would work out. After all, Lisa is underage. Besides, what did they do? You wrote two words?!
As a result, a criminal case was opened against the three detained teenagers (in addition to Lizunova and Snezhkov, their friend Vladislav Vishnevsky was also detained, who later received a suspended sentence) for “vandalism” (Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). But then they added accusations of “justifying terrorism” and “calling for separatism.”
– Later, “separatism” disappeared from the accusation. Instead, the investigators sold them a standard article on “extremism” (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which is already standard for all anti-war activists. Snezhkov and Lizunova were given a written undertaking not to leave the place, and their houses were searched. On December 10, all three were added to the list of terrorists and extremists, recalls Roman Sysoev , a local human rights activist familiar with the case.
Lyuba’s relatives admit that even after the searches and seizure of some things they had no doubt that there would not even be a suspended sentence, but a fine.
“The FSB officers came in the morning, I was still sleeping, my parents opened up to them. They didn’t put pressure on me, there were no threats. I calmly went to the kitchen, poured myself some coffee. It was unpleasant when they started reading my personal notes and laughing. They took my phone, leaflets with the inscription “Freedom, equality, brotherhood,” anti-fascist badges, badges with the name of a telegram channel,” Lyuba managed to tell in 2022 Lizunov of the editorial office of Siberia. Realities about how the search took place in her house.
After the searches, investigators included in the case materials publications in the channels “ Shugan-25 ” (95 subscribers and the last post of October 2022) and “ 75zlo ” (108 subscribers and the last post of October 10, 2022). They were sure that these channels were run by one of the detainees. Center “E” (the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Extremism) was especially interested in the post , which allegedly “mentioned in a positive way the arson of military registration and enlistment offices, sabotage on the railway and the actions of the “Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists.”
– In fact, this is one of the rare posts about arson; in these channels, most of the posts are about helping homeless animals, about arrests for pictures and posts. Some kind of sabotage, if mentioned as news, simultaneously conveyed the message - it is important that civilians do not suffer,” says one of Lizunova’s relatives, Ivan . “Of course, we couldn’t believe that she could have been arrested and then imprisoned. Just a child. And what! An excellent student, the pride of the school and Olympiad winners, a volunteer at shelters for homeless animals. Lyuba is an artist - she graduated from art school, draws excellently in any technique, and is a musician - ukulele, electric guitar, acoustic, drums. She performed at all school events, and was very modest, not an upstart, and on good terms with everyone. A compassionate child who would never harm anyone. Lately I’ve been into dystopias—during a search, it was enough to look at her library: philosophy, history; modernism and classic novels. The views were rather socialist, the principles of social equality, equal rights for all people. And most importantly - the absence of any violence. How can you even judge a 16-year-old child with such views?! For what, for words?
19-year-old Alexander Snezhkov, in an interview with Sibir.Realiya in 2022, said that he became an anti-fascist 4 years before his arrest, after participating in the actions of liberal activists.
“My parents were also wary of my participation in protests and rallies,” said Alexander . “We don’t live with my father, but we keep in touch. At first he didn’t take my views seriously, he thought it was because of my age. But then, when he realized that this was all serious for me, he demanded that I stop doing this. Especially after the police started coming.”
Two years earlier, Alexander was detained at a picket in support of the “Network” (an organization of anarchists and anti-fascists that became widely known when a criminal case was opened against its members under the article of creating a terrorist community; in February 2020, 7 defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from 6 to 18 years in prison). Due to the fact that Snezhkov was still a minor, he was not arrested then, but for six months he was registered with the PDN commission. This detention greatly frightened his mother, who has a disability. As a result, Alexander began to take less risks, but did not give up his views.
“What is anti-fascism? It is, first of all, the fight against violence. Initially, I was against the strengthening and impunity of such authorities as the police, and against various right-wing radical parties. Then I came to ultra-left views. I read everything - from socialists, Marx, Lenin, to anarchists.” - says Alexander.
The teenagers explained their participation in actions against the current government simply – “repression and poverty.”
“We live in a time of repression. Now there is a fight against dissent, the destruction of our own people in war and in peace - many have felt the increase in prices in stores due to the destruction of the economy. Many of my friends from other cities have suffered, every month I learn that one of them was detained. Including musicians I know are being seized for their anti-war position. It will only get worse,” said Alexander.
"From school to detention center"
In 2022, the editors of Sibir.Realiya managed to talk with Sasha and Lyuba, since at first after the arrest and searches they remained free, under recognizance not to leave.
“At the beginning of 2023, due to the nature of the interrogations and investigative actions, both realized that the criminal prosecution would not end with a fine and decided to leave. On January 13 they stopped communicating, and on January 30 they were detained again. Sasha is in Omsk, and Lyuba is in the neighboring Irkutsk region. Lyuba’s parents and Sasha’s mother didn’t even suspect. Lyuba told her father that she was going to say goodbye to her friend, who was moving to St. Petersburg. A day later, Lyuba’s father even reported her missing to the Northern police department; her daughter did not answer the phone. Two days later, the Investigative Committee itself called my father and told him about the capture. The families were frightened by their escape, and simply shocked by their detention,” says Ivan.
In Chita, Lyuba was placed in a temporary detention center (IVS) for three days, and after that the court sentenced the girl to house arrest. Alexander was immediately sent to a pre-trial detention center.
– At the next trial, Lyuba’s parents asked the court to soften the measure of restraint from house arrest to a ban on certain actions, so that their daughter could at least finish 10th grade - because of the arrest, she had to miss an entire school year. Lyuba went back to the 10th grade, but in March she was put in isolation. Due to being two hours late home from my mother's anniversary! – Ivan recalls.
One of the requirements for prohibiting certain actions is to stay at home from 8 pm to 6 am. At the beginning of March, Lyuba’s mother celebrated her 45th birthday, which the family decided to celebrate in a restaurant in the center of Chita.
– At half past seven they started calling a taxi to send Lyuba home with her younger 6-year-old sister. The taxi never arrived, my friends couldn’t come quickly, and on foot it was far away and already dark. The family arrived home late in the evening, and the next day the inspector recorded violations on an electronic bracelet. The court in the photo near the restaurant with the time indicated reacts very harshly - a pre-trial detention center,” says Ivan. – Lyuba’s mother cried day and night. She did not expect that a month later - in April - her daughter would be immediately sentenced to a colony.
The military court was held behind closed doors, the decision was made by a visiting panel of three judges. Since April 11, Lyuba has been in custody; in a double cell, her neighbor was a 16-year-old girl accused of murder.
In April 2024, the 1st Eastern District Military Court sentenced Lyuba to 3.5 years in prison under articles on “calls for extremism” (Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and “justification of terrorism” (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Alexander was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the same articles plus “vandalism” (Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The relatives of the convicted suffered the verdict very hard. An attempt to appeal against it was unsuccessful. During the appeal, Lyuba remained in the Chita pre-trial detention center and successfully completed 10th and then 11th grade. In letters to family and friends, she complained about the meager library and limited range of activities.
“The range of activities here is very limited […]. I draw and write a lot, take notes on any educational material that comes to hand, read fiction. I’ve finally finished studying Aristotle’s 1,400-page collection of treatises, now I’m waiting for a self-instruction manual in French.
“There are three of us in the cell. The girls are younger than me – 17 and 14 years old. One is here for murder, the second for allegedly filming rape. Our relations are peaceful, friendly, more neighborly than comradely. We help each other as much as we can, there is no hierarchy.”
“Every day you see only greyness, concrete and a piece of sky through the double lattice. It’s useless to wait for the light, you have to shine on your own.”
“Schoolchildren will not be allowed to leave”
Three years after his arrest, another criminal case was opened against Alexander - again under the article on “justification of terrorism.” As his friends say, they “concocted” it, since the basis for his arousal was a conversation with a cellmate in which he asked Snezhkov to quote the grounds for his first accusation.
– The cellmate repeated quotes from the first accusation to the investigators, and they re-accused Sasha on the same grounds. In October 2025, he was sentenced to 5 years: the first three years in prison, the remaining term in a maximum security colony, says Semyon.
After the initiation of a new criminal case from a general regime colony, Snezhkov was again sent to the Chita pre-trial detention center. The defense appealed against the 5-year sentence and the sentence in the second case was reduced to 4.5 years, two and a half of which he will still have to spend in a maximum security colony.
But the persecution of Lyuba and Sasha did not end there. At the end of January 2026, when Lizunova’s sentence had passed the halfway point, the Trans-Baikal Regional Court suddenly recognized the Trans-Baikal Left Association (ZLO) movement as a terrorist organization. The investigation calls Lyubov and Alexander “informal leaders” of this non-existent movement. Now, under the article on organizing a terrorist community, they face life imprisonment.
Human rights activists, relatives and friends of political prisoners are confident that the security forces invented the new extremist movement specifically to prevent the children from being released.
- What a coincidence that a cellmate with tricky questions appeared in Sasha’s cell at the very moment when his sentence was nearing the middle and he could apply for parole (parole). And when did they identify the non-existent “terrorist movement”? Again, when Lyuba had less than half of her time left to serve and there was a chance to rescue her,” notes their friend Semyon. – And this is the “75ZLO” movement that no one knows about? The only mention is the telegram channel, which has not had a single new post for 3.5 years.
Human rights activist Sysoev believes that the mentioned “movement” has no signs of being recognized as such.
– Only adult citizens over 18 years of age can participate in the movement. In the first criminal case, by the way, there is no mention of this “movement” at all, but in the new lawsuit (which, by the way, was compiled by the same investigator who led the first case against Lyuba and Sasha), the date of creation of the “organization” is indicated as 2019. When Lyuba was 14 years old, and Sasha was 17,” the human rights activist notes. “Unfortunately, such investigators are not now required to do normal, sane work. There is a trend that they are actively working towards - to slam new criminal cases against anti-war activists so that they do not leave prison. The war is already in its fifth year, and the relatively short sentences of juvenile convicts are beginning to expire - they need to re-jail them, not allow schoolchildren to go out even for a week. This month, a new case was also opened against schoolboy Arseny Turbin. And to Nikita Uvarov.
In June 2024, 15-year-old schoolboy Arseny Turbin from the Oryol region was sentenced to 5 years for distributing leaflets critical of Putin. The basis of his case was a fake protocol from the FSB. In February, a new criminal case was opened against him under the article on participation in mass riots (Article 212, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), his supporters claim. According to them, before this there was an attempt to “spin” a case against Turbin with AUE (the Arrest Order is One, the motto and name of an informal criminal subculture) - in December, Turbin’s lawyer recorded an attempt to plant a notebook with notes about AUE in a student’s cell.
It was precisely this charge of alleged participation in the “AUE extremist movement” that was brought against Nikita Uvarov on February 18, a month before his release. Uvarov ended up in prison in the case of anarchist schoolchildren from Kansk at the age of 14, in June 2020. After 11 months, he was briefly released, but in February 2022, the tribunal found Uvarov guilty of teaching terrorism - the schoolboy was sentenced to 5 years in prison. The charge of participation in the activities of an extremist organization brought in 2026 carries a prison term of up to 6 years.
"It's no use waiting for the light." Young anti-fascists face life imprisonment