The «Parubets Analytics» Center analyzed for the «First Department»* convictions on political grounds for the first half of the current year based on data from the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court. The number of people convicted in political cases in the first half of 2025 increased by one and a half times compared to the same period last year, 1058 people against 705 people.
The number of convictions under the article on confidential cooperation with a foreign state or organization increased by 7.5 times. In the first half of 2025, 17 people were convicted, during the same period in 2024 — 2. According to the «First Department», the actual numbers are higher, from January to June 2025, 25 people were convicted under this article.
For «treason» in the first half of 2025, 105 people were convicted, in the first half of 2024 — 62.
Under the article «participation in the activities of an undesirable organization», 6.5 times more people were convicted than in the same period of 2024: 15 convictions against 2.
The number of convictions on charges of sabotage increased almost fivefold, from 10 to 48.
In the first half of 2025, under the article on public calls against the security of the Russian Federation, which was introduced into the Criminal Code in 2022, 11 convictions were issued. A year earlier — 3.
In the fight against «foreign agents», there was a shift from administrative fines to criminal penalties: in 2025, the first in-person conviction for «repeated violations» was issued. The former coordinator of the Kemerovo movement «Golos»* Sergey Piskunov* was sentenced to four years and one month in a penal colony for «indecent actions» and evasion of «foreign agent» duties.
* Recognized in Russia as «foreign agents».