Police raided the homes of left-wing politicians, members of the Yabloko (Apple) party, and a Russian independent human rights media project, as reported by OVD-Info.
According to the news agency TASS, the searches were carried out in four regions, targeting individuals suspected of maintaining ties with the exiled State Duma former deputy and left-wing politician Ilya Ponomarev.
During the operation, the police detained Mikhail Lobanov, a professor at Moscow State University, politician, and activist.
Lobanov's supporters, calling for "international solidarity," confirmed his arrest on his Twitter profile. They stated that he was taken in an unknown direction and emphasized his staunch opposition to the invasion of Ukraine and his fight for labor and ecological rights.
"Despite there being no connection between them, the police are attempting to link Mikhail with Ilya Ponomarev," read the tweet.
Only a day earlier, on Wednesday, the Golovinsky District Court in Moscow sentenced Giraldo Saray Alberto Enrique, a Colombian national with Russian residency, to five years and two months in prison for spreading "fake news" about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Russian business daily Kommersant, the man has been living in Russia for over 20 years and was running a private computer business. He was reportedly arrested a year ago, allegedly for sending over 2,000 text messages in Spanish condemning Russia's operations in Ukraine. The messages were programmed to be sent on behalf of an organization allegedly linked to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as stated in Kommersant, citing the accusation documentation.
Also on Wednesday, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Mikhail Krieger, a civil activist and co-founder of the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, to seven years in a penal colony, as confirmed by the Union.
Krieger was found guilty of "inciting hatred or enmity" and "justifying terrorism" after reposting two Facebook comments that referenced another court judgment in a treason case.
The Russian regime did not spare women from its infamous penitentiary colonies either.
Journalist and activist Maria Ponomarenko, a mother of two minor children, was arrested a year ago and accused of spreading "fake news." She allegedly commented on the Russian bloody strike in Ukraine's Mariupol in March last year and was sentenced to six years in prison in February this year.
According to the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, Ponomarenko was transferred from a pre-trial detention center to a penitentiary colony on Wednesday.
Daily reports from OVD-Info reveal that the Moscow regime indicts and jails dozens of activists, opposition politicians, journalists, and anyone who protests Russia's invasion of Ukraine every day.
Since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian independent human rights monitor has recorded over 19,500 detentions for anti-war protests.
