Mathematician Verbitsky left Yerevan after arrest

At home he is accused of calling for terrorism.

Mathematician and blogger Mikhail Verbitsky arrived in Tel Aviv after being released from custody in Armenia. Human rights activist Alexander Cherkasov reported this to Vorstka. The mathematician’s lawyer also confirmed the information in a conversation with RBC.

Verbitsky was detained on June 13 at Yerevan airport. In Russia he is wanted in a criminal case of public calls for terrorism. In November 2024, a case was opened against him under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for up to seven years in prison.

On June 15, the Armenian police released Mikhail Verbitsky . As a result, the mathematician was able to leave Yerevan and fly to Israel.

In order not to miss new texts from “Layout”, subscribe to our telegram channel

Why Verbitsky is being persecuted in Russia

Mikhail Verbitsky taught for a long time at the mathematics department of the Higher School of Economics. After the war began, he publicly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and signed an open letter from scientists condemning the fighting - as an employee of the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics of Brazil.

In addition, Verbitsky publicly questioned the official version of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall in March 2024.

At the beginning of 2025, Verbitsky was put on the wanted list and added to the Russian list of terrorists and extremists.

Verbitsky became widely known back in the early 2000s as the author of a popular blog on LiveJournal. After blocking his account, he created an alternative platform, LJ.Russia.

Armenia increasingly refuses Moscow on political matters

In recent years, Yerevan has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to extradite people persecuted for political reasons. In February 2026, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan publicly assured that not a single person would be extradited from the country on political grounds.

At the same time, Armenia continues to cooperate with Russia in cases of a general criminal nature. According to human rights activists, from 2022 to 2024, the republic extradited 11 citizens accused of murder, fraud and other criminal offenses to Russia .

At the same time, in a number of cases related to anti-war activities, refusal to serve or political persecution, the Armenian authorities made decisions in favor of protecting the applicants. For example, Yerevan refused to extradite Russian soldier Semyon Subbotin , who did not want to participate in the war.

In order not to miss new texts from “Layout”, subscribe to our telegram channel

After 2022, Armenia has become one of the main centers of Russian relocation

After the outbreak of a full-scale war, Armenia received one of the largest waves of emigrants from Russia. According to Armenian authorities, in 2022 more than 100 thousand Russians will remain living in the country.

Armenian authorities attributed part of the record economic growth in 2022 to the arrival of relocants and their capital. At the same time, rental and real estate prices have risen sharply, especially in Yerevan.

Previously, “Verstka” looked into why the Kremlin is putting pressure on Armenia and why Russia has fewer and fewer opportunities to influence the situation in neighboring countries.

Photo: Mikhail Verbitsky. National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics of Brazil

You can support “Layout” from any country in the world - it is still safe and very important. We really need your support now