The human rights project For Human Rights reported Dmitriev's return to Colony No. 18 in Potma, citing a representative of the historian's support group. He had been admitted to the medical correctional facility in the settlement of Barashevo on September 25 with severe weakness, impaired coordination and an inability to stand unaided.
According to the For Human Rights contact, no diagnosis was made during the two weeks of hospitalization because the hospital lacks the necessary equipment. The equipment is available at the nearest district hospital, but Dmitriev was not transferred there. During his stay he received a course of injections; which ones is unknown.
Dmitriev's supporters said he was prescribed bed rest until October 28, but the colony was presumably unaware of this and did not allow him to lie down. "How many times he was placed in the punishment cell is already hard to count. Either the top button on his shirt is undone, or he sat on the bed, or he fed the cat. Health does not improve in a damp, unheated room," For Human Rights quoted the support group representative as saying.
Yuri Dmitriev is a researcher of mass graves from the Great Terror. In 1997 he discovered the burial sites of repressed people in the Sandarmokh forest tract and became a co-founder of the memorial complex, and he also compiled memory lists of repressed residents of Karelia.
The historian has been in custody since 2016. He was then accused of producing pornography involving his underage adopted daughter, committing lewd acts against her and illegally storing part of a firearm. The basis was nine photographs of his daughter at ages three, four and six found at Dmitriev's home. The historian denied the charges and claimed the images were intended for doctors.
In April 2018 a court acquitted Dmitriev on two charges, sentencing him to 3.5 years of restricted freedom under the article on weapons storage. The Supreme Court of Karelia later overturned the verdict. Another case was opened against the historian, on charges of violent acts of a sexual nature. In December 2021 a court in Petrozavodsk, by combining the sentences, imposed 15 years in a strict-regime colony.
Dmitriev has not admitted guilt in any of the cases. Memorial considers him a political prisoner and his prosecution unlawful and politically motivated. Scientists, cultural figures and Nobel laureates have spoken out in support of the historian.