In February, a Russian court sentenced Orlov to 2.5 years in prison for an anti-war article in which he called the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin fascist. The human rights defender appealed against the sentence.
Orlov’s health deteriorates due to the prison diet, which consists of “dry rations” doused in hot waterMemorial reported today.
According to his colleagues, at the request of the judge, he is taken from the remand prison to the court every morning before breakfast – allegedly to familiarize himself with the file – and is not taken back until late in the evening. Often, however, the materials are not provided to him and he spends the whole day senselessly. He is hungry, he has a cold due to constant travel in an unheated prison car, and he does not have the opportunity to go for a walk or take care of his personal hygiene.
In addition, the Russian authorities prevent him from having regular and discreet access to a legal representative, the organization added. “Orlov’s constant trips to court, as well as the conditions of transportation and detention, constitute cruel and degrading treatment and violate Orlov’s rights,” his defense attorney wrote in official complaints filed with the court and posted on the Memorial’s website.
“The current situation causes me serious concern for the life and health of my client,” the complaint states.
The 70-year-old Orlov is associated with the Memorial NGO, which won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize and was banned by the Russian authorities a year earlier. While most of Putin’s opponents were imprisoned or emigrated, Orlov refused to go into exile because he considered it important that critical voices in Russia were not silenced.
In February, Alexei Navalny, one of the most prominent critics of the Kremlin, died in a prison beyond the Russian Arctic Circle. He was 47 years old. According to prison authorities, he died suddenly after he fell ill after returning from a walk. However, those close to Navalny claim that President Putin is behind his death – either directly or indirectly.
In the last day, the enemy lost 730 people, 29 tanks, 20 armored vehicles, 45 drones and others, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informs in a morning report. The numbers cannot be independently verified.
The income of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and his family last year amounted to 12.4 million hryvnias (CZK 7.4 million). More than half is income from the sale of government bonds, the family also earned money from renting their apartments, according to data published on the president’s website. The family’s income returned to the pre-war level after the drop the year before last, writes the Ukrinform agency.
“The income of Volodymyr Zelensky’s family in 2023 consisted mainly of salaries, bank interest and income from renting real estate. In total, this amount amounted to 4,967,036 hryvnias,” (almost three million crowns), Zelenskyj said in his statement on assets, income, expenses and financial liabilities. “The increase in income compared to the previous year was due to the resumption of rent payments.”
Russian forces again attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the south and southeast of the country tonight. The event lasted over three hours, the Ukrainian authorities said this morning on the Telegram platform. The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed nine of the 12 Shahed 136/131 drones in the Dnepropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson and Poltava regions.
Four S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles and drones that took off from occupied Crimea flew into the Donetsk region of southeastern Ukraine last night. In the Dnepropetrovsk region, according to the army, fragments of a downed drone fell on a grain silo, where they caused a fire. However, it was quickly extinguished and the total damage is minimal. No casualties were reported either.
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