Head of Komi Communist Party branch Oleg Mikhailov detained in Moscow on suspicion of justifying terrorism

Oleg Mikhailov, head of the Communist Party's regional branch in Russia's Komi Republic and a former State Duma (the lower house of parliament) deputy, has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of "justifying terrorism." The Telegram channel Novaya Respublika and the news agency BNK reported the detention, and the party's regional branch confirmed it to BNK.

According to Novaya Respublika, the charge relates to a 2024 post about sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, who was sentenced that year to five years in a penal colony, also for "justifying terrorism." Mikhailov is being held in a temporary detention facility. On October 22, a court will decide whether to keep him in custody or impose other restrictions until trial. The provision he is accused of violating, Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, carries a fine or five to seven years in prison.

Political background

Mikhailov won a State Duma seat in a single-member district in September 2021. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Ukraine imposed sanctions on him. The US sanctions were linked to the passage of a law against "fake news" about the military, even though he had not voted for it.

In the 2026 State Duma election, Mikhailov finished second in the Syktyvkar single-member district, losing to a candidate who had fought in the war. During the campaign he was the only candidate from Komi to call for peace. A month and a half before the vote, there had been an attempt to remove him from the ballot.