Mikhail Savva

On 14 March and 10 April 2013, after the launch of a campaign of inspections of non-profit organisations by the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, and other regulatory bodies, two searches were carried out at the office of the Krasnodar-based NGO "Southern Regional Resource Centre" (SRRC), which was directed by Savva. Security services’ interest in the organisation was linked to its receipt of a grant of 820,000 rubles (approximately US$25,000) from the administration of Krasnodar Krai under the "Building Peace" programme, aimed at normalising relations between members of the Uzbek and Tajik diasporas and the indigenous population of Kuban. Of this sum, 366,000 rubles (US$11,000) were spent on a sociological study, "The Potential for the Socialisation of Migrants in Krasnodar Krai", intended to determine how many migrants the region could accommodate without causing negative trends in interethnic relations.

On 11 April 2013, a criminal case was opened against Savva and his acquaintance Viktoria Remmler on charges of fraud in obtaining payments through abuse of office on a large scale. The following day, FSB officers conducted a six-hour search at Savva’s home. On 13 April he was arrested by a court; journalists and supporters were not allowed into the courtroom. On 15 May, a second criminal case was opened against Savva on similar fraud charges; he was accused of receiving 90,000 rubles (US$2,800) from Kuban State University for a lecture course he had not delivered. He remained in pre-trial detention until 4 December 2013, when the court replaced his detention with house arrest.

On 2 April 2014, Savva was sentenced to three years’ probation with a two-year probationary period and fined 70,000 rubles (US$2,100). In January 2015, he was placed on the federal wanted list after allegedly leaving for Ukraine. On 2 March 2015, his suspended sentence was converted in absentia to three years’ imprisonment in a penal colony-settlement.

On 20 April, it was reported that a new criminal case had been opened against Savva on charges of fraud committed by a group acting in collusion: he was suspected of embezzling public funds by claiming payments totalling more than 150,000 rubles (US$4,500). According to the investigation, the lessons included in the course had not been fully delivered: several lecturers who were paid fees had not actually given the lectures and had not received the money.

In October 2023, Savva was added to the register of "foreign agents". By no later than 2025, a case was opened against him for failing to fulfil the duties of a "foreign agent".