Baltykov Eduard Sergeevich

In several regions of Russia, including the Altai Republic, Tomsk, Murmansk, and Kemerovo Oblasts, the Altai and Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Republic of Sakha, and St. Petersburg, on December 17, 2025, FSB officers conducted searches and interrogations of human rights activists and activists representing indigenous peoples. In total, law enforcement officers visited at least 17 activists and human rights activists and seized equipment.

In the Kemerovo Oblast, a search was conducted at the home of activist Alexey Chispiyakov. This spring, he spoke at the UN Forum on Indigenous Peoples, criticizing the Russian authorities.

In the Murmansk Oblast, a search was carried out at the home of Valentina Sovkina, who headed the Sami Parliament of the Kola Peninsula in 2010. She was a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In Moscow in December 2025, a 48-year-old decolonial activist and representative of the Selkup people, a small indigenous group of Western Siberia, Darya Yegereva, 57-year-old Natalya Leonhardt, 58-year-old resident of the Republic of Kalmykia, former banker and broker, anti-war activist Eduard Baltikov, and 21-year-old Konstantin Vorobyov were detained. They were charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.

According to law enforcement, the women were involved in the activities of the informal association "Indigenous Forum." They represented the "Center for Support of Small Indigenous Peoples of the North," which was part of it. In late 2024, "Indigenous Forum" was designated a terrorist organization.

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow placed the suspects in pre-trial detention.