Russian Activist Deported from Turkey to Russia After Father Called Police During Argument
Russian activist Ariadna Litvinova, charged with discrediting the Russian military, was deported from Turkey to Russia after her father called police during an argument.
A Russian activist facing criminal charges for 'discrediting' the military was deported from Turkey to Russia after her visa-free stay expired and she was unable to obtain a residence permit, her father told BBC’s Russian service. The activist, Ariadna Litvinova, had come to stay with him in Turkey in September 2025 to escape prosecution at home, said her father, Valery Kryzhanovskiy, who lives in Turkey.
In May of this year, some kind of conflict broke out between them, after which he and his new wife called the police. He did not provide details about the conflict. Kryzhanovskiy said he chose not to file a complaint against his daughter, but police took her anyway. Litvinova spent more than a month in a deportation center, during which time Kryzhanovskiy said he had no contact with her. He learned of her deportation from media reports.
The press service of St. Petersburg courts announced on July 7 that a St. Petersburg court had changed Litvinova’s pretrial restrictions from a ban on certain activities to pretrial detention. A source familiar with Litvinova’s case who spoke to the St. Petersburg news outlet Bumaga said the court press service’s announcement was 'not new information.' As of the afternoon of July 7, the source said, the activist was still in Moscow.
Turkey’s deportation of Litvinova to Russia became known on July 5. The Telegram channel Tyuremny Advokat ('Prison Lawyer') reported that Litvinova was brought into Russia via deportation proceedings rather than extradition, and that she was likely detained upon arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport before being sent to St. Petersburg.
Litvinova was detained in St. Petersburg in February 2025 after writing 'Murderers. Peace to Ukraine. Freedom to political prisoners' on banners at a pro-war exhibition near the arch of the General Staff building. She was initially charged with vandalism; the charge was later changed to 'discrediting' the military. She was first sent to a pretrial detention center, but her pretrial restrictions were subsequently changed to a ban on certain activities. Once free, she left Russia for Turkey.
Litvinova had been a student at a police college but left in 2023, citing what she described as war propaganda.
