A worker in Volgograd, a student in Yaroslav, an artist in Saint Petersburg, an engineer in Kaliningrad, a pensioner in Buryatia and an entrepreneur in the Krasnodar region: These are just some of the average citizens in Russia who have been added to a growing list of those prosecuted for "apology for Nazism," "extremism" and "discrediting the army," under a new law that came into force in March 2022. Between February 24, 2022, the day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and December 3, 2023, 19,844 people were arrested for demonstrating their opposition to the war, according to the Russian NGO OVD-Info, which specializes in monitoring arrests and police brutality in the country.

There have also been six convictions, some sentenced to six, seven or eight years in prison, with the heaviest sentence so far − up to 25 years − given to opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. The youngest person, 17-year-old Yegor Balazeykin, was sentenced in November to six years in prison after being found guilty by a Saint Petersburg military court of trying to set fire to a recruitment center.

Nearly 300 men and women have joined regime opponents, Jehovah's Witnesses and persecuted Crimean Tatars behind bars, making a total of 1,352 political prisoners, according to the latest count by human rights NGO Memorial. While these numbers might appear modest relative to the country's population of 144 million, they have been rising steadily. More significant is that they have exceeded the 700 political prisoners documented by Memorial in the years before Gorbachev came to power. And the machinery of repression has begun to spin out of control.

Given the slow pace of legal proceedings, the courts have been in full swing. Between December 4 and 8 alone, OVD-Info counted 177 court hearings throughout the country, dedicated to carrying out trials for an average of 35 Russians per day who voiced even the slightest criticism of the war. Over 780 criminal cases have been opened.

"The crackdown makes no distinction of age, it could be a pensioner or a young woman without any influence. The message the Kremlin is sending is that no one is safe. And the sentences are very heavy, while hardened criminals are being pardoned [prisoners recruited in prison for the war and returning from the front]. It's terrifying," said Olga Prokopieva, spokesperson for human rights NGO Russie-Libertés.

In cooperation with this organization, founded in France in 2012, and in honor of International Human Rights Day on December 10, Le Monde tracked the cases of some of these anonymous political prisoners, whose detention conditions have been proving particularly harsh.

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