Davydov Maksim Sergeevich

In occupied Donetsk, on the morning of July 15, 2025, unidentified masked men came to the home of Maxim Davydov, a human rights activist and assistant to the deputy of the Supreme Council of the "DNR". The armed men first introduced themselves as "employees of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs," but then it turned out that they had FSB officers' IDs. Davydov was taken in a car without license plates to the building of the prosecutor's office of Kirovsky district of Donetsk, where he was held for several hours. FSB officer Ponomarenko Filipp Nikolayevich asked the human rights defender many questions, including those related to his personal life and views, while insulting and provoking him and threatening him - the law enforcers said that they would very much like to "shoot him".

According to the human rights defender, the reason for his detention was his allegedly insulting comments about the Russian authorities in a chat room of the Telegram channel "Mobilization of the DNR." A few hours later, Davydov was released without drawing up a protocol.

Earlier, in April 2025, the man was fined under the article on "discrediting" the Russian army for a comment in support of the Telegram channel ASTRA.

On December 24, 2025, OP No. 2 of the Donetsk Department of Internal Affairs of Russia opened a criminal case against Maksim Davydov for using a knowingly false document.

According to the version of the law enforcers, on October 2, 2025 Maxim Davydov, being in the premises of the prosecutor's office of Voroshilovsky district of Donetsk, presented a false passport of a citizen of the USSR to the employees of the department. According to the conclusions of experts, the document was printed on inkjet and offset printers, and the security marks and fibers on it were only imitated. For the forgery they used the data of a real passport form from 1987, which is a museum exhibit in one of the lyceums in Donetsk.

The measure of restraint was not chosen for Davydov.

On February 4, 2026 law enforcers broke into the house of the human rights defender again. They searched the apartment, detained Davydov and took him to Police Department No. 2, where he was beaten and forced to sign some documents.