Of the estimated 1,500 to 2,000 political prisoners being held in Russian prisons and penal colonies, I have the names of a very few. Yesterday I learned of two more — sadly, too late for one of them.

Aleksandr Dotsenko, 65, and his wife Anastasia Dyudyeva, 46, were arrested in May of 2023 during a raid on a gathering at their home in the village of Taytsy, a suburb of St. Petersburg. They were charged with “justifying terrorism” — specifically, allegedly distributing in a supermarket paper napkins bearing an anti-Putin slogan that roughly translates to “Hang Putin from a branch.” [Mediazona, February 26, 2026.]

Though there was no concrete evidence against them, they were nonetheless convicted in July of 2024. Dotsenko was sentenced to three years in a low-security prison camp; Dyudyaeva received a three-and-a-half-year sentence in a similar facility.

On February 12, 2026, Dotsenko suffered a massive heart attack in prison. He was hospitalized in critical condition, briefly regained consciousness on February 17th, but immediately suffered acute cardiac arrhythmia. He was placed in a medically-induced coma, but died on February 19th.

Dotsenko’s funeral was held in his home village of Taytsy, near St. Petersburg, attended by about 30 friends and supporters. But his wife, still serving her sentence in prison — though far from a dangerous criminal — was denied a temporary release to attend her husband’s funeral.

There is no room for compassion in Russia’s judicial system. But today we offer our condolences to Anastasia Dyudyeva and to the family and friends of Aleksandr Dotsenko, as we also remember the other victims of Putin’s repressive regime:

*. *. *

Victims of Greed:

The President, First Lady, and citizens of Venezuela

Europeans Under Threat:

The Nation and the People of Greenland
The people of NATO and EU member states

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Afghanistan:

Dennis Coyle (American)

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
— Oleg Antipov
— Artyom Azatyan
— Georgy Azatyan
— Aleksandr Bylin
— Roman Solomko
— Artur Terchanyan
— Dmitry Tyazhelykh
— Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Aleksandr Dotsenko
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

You have not been, and will not be, forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/1/26