Polina Barabash
- Criminal Code
- Article 207 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Anti-war cases
- Region
- Saint Petersburg
- City
- Saint Petersburg
Case summary
On 4 April she hung an anti-war banner and chained herself to the fence of the military hospital on Suvorovsky Prospekt. The action was filmed by "Soty" journalist Viktoria Arefieva. At that time, men in military uniform approached the girls, demanded to stop the action and attacked Victoria: they threw her and the participants of the action on the ground, causing the journalist's glasses and phone to break. The men took away the girls' personal belongings and gave them back only when the police arrived. Barabash was detained. The attacking men were not detained. She was detained on the night of May 8th after searches. Released on 10 May under an undertaking to appear. The pro-government St. Petersburg channel "78" reported that Barabash and other detainees were planning to "participate in illegal actions on Victory Day". On 23 October, police came to Barabash's flat, where an evening of letters to political prisoners was being held. They said that they had a search warrant and that they would cut down the door if it was not opened. In the end, they did not break down the door and conduct a search.
Others charged under Article 207 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
Recent material from this section. This is section navigation — the articles below are not about this person.
- 2026-09-04Georgia court clears extradition of Fugal ally to Russia
- 2026-09-04Russia labels Novaya Gazeta a 'foreign agent,' adds over 100 affiliated names
- 2026-09-04Russian court sentences hostage-takers from Rostov detention center to up to 29 years
- 2026-09-04Two Yabloko Duma candidates detained in Moscow two days before vote
- 2026-09-03British man says Russian police beat him, jumped on his head at station in Yessentuki
Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.