Russian Police Clamp Down on Support for Putin Critic Yevgeny Roizman

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Supporters of Russian dissident Yevgeny Roizman, former mayor of Yekaterinburg, were arrested by authorities after gathering to protest the detention of the opposition politician on August 24, a video shows.

A few seconds of footage shared on Storyful, a Dublin-based news and intelligence agency, shows officials in uniform removing a peaceful protester and dragging him towards police vans while a crowd of onlookers film the unfolding events.

The clip was shot by reporters from It's My City, a local independent media site that has covered Roizman's detention, and it's been corroborated by Storyful, though Newsweek could not independently verify how many people were protesting the former's mayor arrest.

Roizman Russia
In this photo taken on August 19, 2017, the then-mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman is shown during the celebrations for the 294th anniversary of the city. Supporters of Roizman were arrested on Wednesday in Yekaterinburg... MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images

Roizman, a former State Duma deputy considered the face of the anti-Putin movement in Russia, was arrested on Wednesday on charges of "discrediting" the actions of the Russian army and now faces jail time, according to reports.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, Roizman has been a vocal critic of Putin and the war.

Speaking to journalists as he was being led away from his apartment in Yekaterinburg on August 24, where masked security forces had conducted a search, Roizman said that he was being charged for calling Putin's war against Ukraine an "invasion."

The case was opened, according to him, because of one phrase: "invasion of Ukraine."

In Russia, the war is known as a "special military operation" and a law passed after February 24 makes calling it anything else —as well as disparaging the military— a crime punishable with up to five years in prison.

Roizman's lawyer said he was officially detained for 48 hours. According to the Moscow branch of Russia's Interior Ministry, "the suspect was detained in Yekaterinburg and will be taken to Moscow for investigation."

Roizman, mayor of Yekaterinburg between 2013 and 2018, was broadly popular during his time in office in the city of 1.5 million in the Ural Mountains. He's considered one of the most charismatic and visible opposition figures in the country.

According to information released on Wednesday by the OVD-Info human rights group, some 224 people in Russia have been involved in anti-war criminal cases and at least 16,437 people were arrested in relation to anti-war protests.

The number includes 138 people arrested for sharing anti-war posts on social networks, 118 arrests for anti-war symbols and 62 arrests after anti-war actions.

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more