Petr Opalnik
Petr Opalnik, born 1978, Novgorod Oblast. Charges: Article 275.1, Russian Criminal Code (Confidential cooperation with foreigners); Article 352.1 applied with Article 30 part 3, Article 33 part 3, Russian Criminal Code (Organisation of an attempt to voluntarily surrender); “Petr Opalnik's case of confidential cooperation with Ukraine”. Sentence (August 1, 2024): 8 years' imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony, followed by one year of restriction of liberty. Status: imprisoned; place of detention: Penal colony No. 4, Tver Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, October 4, 2024.
In brief
Novgorod Oblast · Veliky Novgorod · Office workers
Sentence
8 years
imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony, followed by one year of restriction of liberty
Upheld February 18, 2026
Charges
- Article 275.1, Russian Criminal Code — Confidential cooperation with foreigners
- Article 352.1 applied with Article 30 part 3, Article 33 part 3, Russian Criminal Code — Organisation of an attempt to voluntarily surrender
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, he incited mobilised individuals to commit state treason by providing the enemy with information about the locations of Russian military units and formations, executing theft and transfer of military equipment, and voluntary surrender.
Latest event
February 18, 2026 — cassation
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, October 4, 2024
Timeline
· Cassation ruling
upheld
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 8 years
· Persecution begins
Petr Opalnik's case of confidential cooperation with Ukraine
Criminal case
Petr Opalnik's case of confidential cooperation with Ukraine
- Case number
- 02-8/2024
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 4, Tver Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
172011, Тверская область, г. Торжок, ул. Старицкая, д. 79, ФКУ «ИК № 4 УФСИН России по Тверской области», Опальник Петр Григорьевич, 1978 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
A citizen of Ukraine, was also a citizen of the Russian Federation, lived in the city of Pestovo (Novgorod region). He worked as real estate manager and was involved in insurance. On 18 January 2023, he was detained on charges of confidential cooperation with foreigners. The reason was a conversation with his former stepson, who received a summons as a mobilised man: Opalnik offered him to surrender as a prisoner of war and gave him the contacts of his nephew who lived in Poland. As follows from the case file, the former stepson secretly recorded the conversations with Opalnik on the instructions of the FSB. Already after the lawyers by agreement entered the case, the court was refusing to remove the public defender from the case. Opalnik received almost no letters in the pre-trial detention centre.
During the trial, Opalnik spoke about torture. In July 2024, it became known that Opalnik was threatened with transfer to strict detention conditions because he receives the Tiuremnyi Vestnik (Prison Herald), a samizdat for defendants in politically motivated cases.
On 1 August 2024, Opalnik was sentenced to eight years in a strict regime colony.
In September 2025, Opalnik was stripped of his Russian citizenship.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Ukraine
Other people prosecuted under Article 275.1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.