Komi Communist Leader Oleg Mikhailov Detained Over Alleged Terrorism Justification

Oleg Mikhailov, the head of the Communist Party’s Komi regional branch and a former member of the republic’s State Council, was taken into custody in Moscow on accusations of "justifying terrorism." Prosecutors linked the charge to a 2024 social-media post that mentioned sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, who was sentenced to five years in a penal colony for a similar offense. Mikhailov is currently held in a temporary detention facility, and a court scheduled for October 22 will determine whether he remains in custody or faces alternative measures pending trial.

The alleged violation concerns Part 2 of Article 205.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which carries a fine or a prison term of five to seven years. The politician, sanctioned by the EU, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, ran in the 2026 State Duma race, finishing second in the Syktyvkar district behind a war veteran. During the campaign he was the sole candidate from Komi to advocate for peace, and an attempt was made to remove him from the ballot a month and a half before the vote.