16 September 2026. Today is Andrei Trofimov’s sixtieth birthday. Last week his lawyer was able to visit him, for the first time since he arrived at the IK-9 prison. His support group was able to share this news on their telegram channel:
Andrei is currently in solitary confinement (PKT or pomeshchenie kamernogo tipa) until the end of this month. After an extended interruption, letters to Andrei are now being delivered to him again. There are now no obstructions to his lawyer seeing him, but the situation with visits from family members remains unclear.
27 August 2026. For the first time in four months, Andrei Trofimov’s supporters have seen him – on a video link to a court hearing in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, north-west Russia. They are all very relieved – but he is not out of danger. We need to draw attention to his case, far and wide.
The hearing, which has been adjourned until 15 September, was on a claim that prison staff had prevented Trofimov meeting his lawyer. Report here.
August 2026. The Russian political prisoner Andrei Trofimov has not been in touch with friends, family or human rights campaigners since April. They are all extremely worried.
Memorial: Support Political Prisoners reported:
There has been no contact with political prisoner Andrei Trofimov since April. He has not responded to letters and has not been brought out to meet with a lawyer. The situation was reported by journalist Vladimir Rayevsky, who has been corresponding with Andrei.
‘We have tried every possible avenue, but we are told that “he does not want to maintain contact with anyone” — which is nonsense, he is one of the most outgoing people I know — and that “he already has a lawyer”, which is untrue. On one occasion, a lawyer we had hired even travelled to Petrozavodsk at our request, but Andrei Trofimov was not brought out to see him,’ Vladimir Rayevsky wrote.
In March, it emerged that Andrei Trofimov had arrived at Penal Colony No. 9 in Petrozavodsk, Karelia. There has been no information to suggest he has since been transferred to another facility.
□ Andrei Trofimov, 59, has been a civil society activist since the 1980s, and in 2022 protested publicly against the all-out invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, Trofimov was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for “incitement to extremism” and “discrediting the Russian army”, due to social media posts he wrote opposing the war in Ukraine. The court stated that he had completed an application form for the Freedom of Russia Legion, and convicted him of preparation to participate in an unlawful armed formation.
Trofimov’s statement to the closed court hearing, ending “Glory to Ukraine. Putin is a dickhead!” was published outside Russia. This resulted in a further trial, at which he was convicted of incitement to terrorism and three years were added to his sentence.
□ From outside Russia, the best we can do is to raise the profile of Andrei’s case and make it more widely known.
□ Together with the European Network in Defence of Ukraine, Ukraine Solidarity Campaign Scotland, and many others, we have been campaigning in western countries, in defence of Ukrainian prisoners in Russian prisons, and Russian political prisoners. We appeal to all to support Andrei at a time of need.
□ If you can help, please contact us at 2022ukrainesolidarity[at]gmail[dot]com
□ We are preparing a public appeal, to be published in September. Let us know if you would like to add your name.
More information
□ A letter to MIT students from Putin’s dungeons, by Andrei Trofimov
□ News about Andrei Trofimov, from the Telegraph’s Ukraine: the Latest podcast (original is here, at about 35 minutes)
□ Andrei Trofimov’s speeches in court were included in the book Voices Against Putin’s War: protesters’ defiant speeches in Russian courts (order a copy, or download a free pdf, here).
□ Andrei’s speeches featured in the film Try Me For Treason, which you can view on youtube here.
На русском / In Russian
□ Помогите найти Андрея Трофимова
□ From BBC Russian service: Политзаключенный Трофимов три месяца не выходит на связь из колонии
