Historian Yuri Dmitriev hospitalized after suspected stroke

Russian historian Yuri Dmitriev, 70, was urgently transferred from Penal Colony No. 18 in Mordovia to a prison medical facility in the village of Barashevo after suffering a suspected stroke, the human rights group ZPCh reported.

A source connected to the group expressed doubt that the facility has the necessary equipment to diagnose and treat him properly, arguing he should instead be moved to a city hospital. The source also stressed that his lawyer must be allowed to see him without delay, though they were skeptical that officials would permit a visit over the weekend, even though the lawyer planned to attempt one on September 26.

Who is Yuri Dmitriev

Dmitriev is a historian and former head of the Memorial human rights organization's branch in Karelia. In 1997, he discovered mass graves of victims of Soviet-era political repression in the Sandarmokh forest and compiled memorial lists documenting Karelia residents who had suffered political persecution.

Years in custody

Dmitriev has been held in custody since 2016, when he was charged with producing child pornography involving his underage adopted daughter, committing lewd acts against her, and illegally possessing a firearm component. The case arose from photographs of his daughter found in his possession, which Dmitriev said he had taken purely to document her medical development.

In April 2018, a court acquitted him on two of the charges but sentenced him to three and a half years of movement restrictions over the weapons charge. Karelia's Supreme Court later overturned that decision, and a new criminal investigation into sexual assault allegations was opened. He was subsequently sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony on that charge, and in December 2021 a court in Petrozavodsk combined his sentences into a total of 15 years in a high-security colony.

Dmitriev's case has drawn wide international attention: more than 150 Russian cultural figures and over 400 foreign scholars have signed letters supporting him, including Nobel literature laureates Herta Müller and Svetlana Alexievich and Goncourt Prize winner Jonathan Littell. Memorial regards Dmitriev as a political prisoner.