Russian citizen Artem Kosolapov was detained in the US state of Arkansas on August 23, the Russian Refugee Foundation reported. The Saline County jail roster lists him as “HOLD FOR ICE,” indicating he was taken into custody at the request of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was transferred out of the jail on the morning of August 24 and is now held at an ICE immigration detention center in Louisiana.
Kosolapov arrived in the US on a visa with his wife Olga in 2022. The couple applied for asylum, and their case has not yet been decided. Olga is an anti-war activist who helped organize ProtestNY demonstrations and volunteer aid for Ukrainians. Artem also took part in protests in support of Ukraine.
Sergei Vlasov, founder of the Russian Refugee Foundation, told The Insider that a police officer pulled Kosolapov over on a highway while he was driving a minivan carrying commercial cargo. After checking his documents, the Russian was detained. According to Vlasov, the activist's wife and child are now home alone with no means of support — Artem was the family's breadwinner, working as a driver. They have “huge debts for two cars” that he used in his business.
Vlasov noted that no court hearing date has been set in the Kosolapovs' case, so there is a high risk it will be heard in a court at the immigration detention facility. “If the court is not scheduled and you are detained, you will be tried in detention, where there is a huge chance of being denied asylum and facing deportation... In effect, Artem has been taken hostage,” he said. The foundation is raising money for a lawyer to file a request for Kosolapov's release on bail.
Lawyers and human rights advocates note that the administration of Donald Trump has changed its approach to detaining foreigners: a routine traffic stop can now be conducted by just a couple of police officers rather than a group of ICE agents, making it hard for bystanders to distinguish an ordinary stop from an immigration arrest. That is how Artem Kosolapov was detained. In July, the US saw a record number of immigrant detentions — nearly 50,000 people — and a record number of deportations, nearly 34,000. Russians have previously been deported from the US, and at least two of them were arrested upon arrival in Russia on criminal charges.