Nikolai Polozov

A lawyer who served as defense counsel in the case of the Pussy Riot “punk prayer” at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, as well as for Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko and Ukrainian sailors detained in Crimea. He also took part in a number of cases involving Crimean Tatar activists and other political prisoners on the peninsula. He later moved to Ukraine, and after the start of the war in 2022 became one of the founders of the project “Search. Captivity” (“Poshuk. Polon”), which searches for Ukrainians captured by Russia and provides them with legal assistance. He joined the Free Russia Forum. In June 2025, Polozov spoke about secret prisons for Ukrainian captives in Russia.

In early July 2025, it was reported that Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs placed Polozov on the wanted list. Authorities opened a criminal case against the lawyer for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army allegedly motivated by hatred, citing an interview he gave to the YouTube channel “Utro Fevralia” (“Morning of February”), in which he spoke about the execution of civilians in the city of Bucha in 2022. Investigators also cited a social media post.

On October 10, 2025, authorities opened a criminal case against him and seven others for organizing the activities of a terrorist community, in connection with the work of the Free Russia Forum.

On February 20, 2026, a court sentenced Polozov in absentia to eight and a half years in a penal colony on charges of spreading “fakes”.