Dmitry Morozov is a young Russian activist from the west-central city of Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurt Republic. Following the recent parliamentary elections, he requested official permission to organize a peaceful protest against what he and others considered irregularities in the election process. When the petition was refused by the mayor’s office, Morozov, together with other local activists, filed a lawsuit with the court, which responded by ordering the city administration to review the request again.

But on the evening of October 2nd, while on his way to a local shop, he was arrested and detained by the FSB (Federal Security Service). The following morning, FSB officers took him back to his home, conducted a search, and confiscated his computer. According to his father, there were scratches on Morozov’s face and his hands were swollen.

Following the search, he was returned to detention, where he was kept for more than 24 hours before finally being permitted to see an attorney on October 4th. On October 5th, his parents were brought to the police station for questioning, and were subsequently released. [Source: OVD.info.]

Morozov has now been charged with possession of a “large quantity of drugs” and ordered held in pretrial detention for two months. The prosecutor also said that “there is information about Dmitry Morozov’s involvement in a Ukrainian armed group.” [Meduza, October 5, 2026.]

This is the typical progression of cases in which political activists have been initially detained for some minor violation, and later charged with more serious crimes carrying lengthy prison sentences. Trials can be delayed for many months, are nearly always held behind closed doors, and are virtually guaranteed to result in a guilty verdict.

Other activists have protested Morozov’s arrest and are advocating for his release. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of them ended up sharing Dmitry Morozov’s fate.

While we await further word of the outcome of his case, he has, of course, been added to our list of Putin’s political hostages.

*. *. *

And, this being Sunday, here again is the list of those hostages known to me. Sadly, it hasn’t gotten any shorter since last week.

Prisoners of War:

The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine
The 6,000 Starving Citizens of Oleshky

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

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

Endangered Exiles:

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin
Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Oleg Orlov
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Afghanistan:

Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American)
Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)

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)
Aleksandr Andreyev
David Barnes (American)
Yevgenia Berkovich
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Yury Dmitriyev
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Aleksandr Kynev
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Svitlana Loi (in Ukraine)
Mikhail Loshchinin
“Madame Z” (in Ukraine)
Grigory Melkonyants
Dmitry Morozov
Boris Nadezhdin
Nika Novak
Svetlana Petriichuk
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Ilya Remeslo
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Lev Schlossberg
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Karina Tsurkan
Arseniy Turbinin (age 18)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

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

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/11/26