Igor Iakunichev

He is a resident of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District and a street cleaner. In May 2023, a case was initiated against him for dissemination of knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces. At that time, a search was conducted in his home. During the arrest he was beaten. Then the court applied a measure of restraint in the form of a ban on certain actions. In December 2023, a case was initiated for public justification of terrorism, and no later than March 2024 another one was initiated for discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. No later than February 2024, the investigation requested that the man be sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. On 1 April 2024, the man’s home was searched again, after which he was forcibly hospitalised in a psychiatric institution. When the case was referred to the court, it turned out that another case had also been initiated against him for publicly calling to engage in activities against the security of the Russian Federation.

At the trial, Iakunichev said that in the pre-trial detention centre he was not given medication and was threatened with “reprisals of a sexual nature”.

On 5 September 2025, the court sentenced him to a 12-year term in a general regime colony.