Photo: Ivan Apostolevsky / Telegram

A councillor from Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region was detained at a railway station in St. Petersburg on Tuesday and charged with sharing symbols of an “extremist organisation” over a 2017 social media post mentioning slain opposition leader Alexey Navalny, state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported.

Ivan Apostolevsky, who heads the Communist Party faction in the region’s parliament, was detained by security forces connected with Centre E, an anti-extremism unit known for persecuting opposition activists, after exiting a train early on Tuesday morning, having just returned to St. Petersburg from a working trip in China, local news outlet 47news wrote.

Facing a fine of up to 3,000 rubles (€31) or an administrative arrest of up to 15 days if found guilty, Apostolevsky told 47news that he was charged due to a 2017 social media post. However, he denied posting anything related to Navalny and linked his detention to his political activity, namely his stance on garbage reform and landfills, and his support of Larisa Mukhina, a Communist Party candidate, for governor of the Leningrad region.

Apostolevsky was briefly detained in 2023 for organising a rally protesting the construction of a Rusal alumina refinery plant in the region.

Independent news outlet Bumaga found the post on Apostolevsky’s VK page, in which he said the Communist Party had launched an inquiry following an investigation by Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) detailing the corruption of former president Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia’s prime minister at the time.

This is not the first time Russian security forces have detained citizens for social media posts including mention of Navalny or the FBK, deemed “an extremist organisation” by the Russian government. In May, a 21-year-old activist was arrested for eight days for posting a photo of Navalny.