Mark Serov

A resident of Kazan, he took part in anti-war protests. On April 6, 2023, law enforcement officers searched his home as part of a vandalism investigation related to graffiti bearing the slogans "No to War" and "certain negative statements" about Vladimir Putin. Shortly before the search, Serov and several other activists had registered a regional branch of the Civic Initiative party in Kazan. After that, a local Telegram channel believed to be affiliated with the security services published a post threatening them. Following the search, Serov was taken to a police station, where officers drew up an administrative offense report accusing him of organizing an unauthorized public event (Part 2, Article 20.2 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses) in connection with a spontaneous memorial honoring civilians killed in the missile strike on Dnipro. He was held overnight pending his court hearing. In May 2026, the independent outlet TV2 published an interview with Serov in which he said that, in March 2023, he had met an officer of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), who persuaded him to sign a document agreeing to cooperate. According to Serov, he remained in contact with the FSB officer for two years: one year while living in Russia, and another year after emigrating to Georgia. At present, OVD-Info does not have reliable information that would allow it to either confirm or refute these claims.