Irkutsk

Ruslan Zinin Sent to Solitary Confinement

Ruslan Zinin’s mother Marina Zinina has reported that on March 21 [her son] was transferred to a solitary confinement cell without explanation.

“They came and took him away, saying, ‘Let’s go to another place.’ They put him in the basement in a solitary confinement cell. […] The conditions are terrible. It’s damp and cold and reeks of sewage, and rats are running around, and there’s nothing in the cell at all, except for a cot. There’s nowhere to store food, nowhere to get water, there’s no kettle, there’s nothing.”

ABC Irkutsk: support the revolutionary prisoners of Siberia!

Alexander Snezhkov and Lyubov Lizunova

Eastern Siberia is a harsh and inhospitable region, which was a place of imprisonment and exile for socialists and anarchists under the tsarist regime. As you can see, history repeats itself.

Here is how the Anarchist Black Cross of Irkutsk sums up the year of its work. It actually coincided with the anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine:

Ruslan Zinin Charged with “Terrorism”

Logging truck driver Ruslan Zinin grabbed a sawed-off shotgun when, in the wake of the “partial” mobilization’s annoucement, a summons arrived for his brother. On September 26, Zinin went to the military enlistment office in Ust-Ilimsk (Irkutsk Region). Military commissar Alexander Yeliseyev was giving a speech as he dispatched dozens of people to the slaughter.

Anarchist division of Nestor Kalandarishvili in Siberia (1917-1919)

Нестор Каландаришвили

The revolutionary events at the beginning of the last century, and the following civil war, did not leave Siberia unaffected. One of the key, dramatic events at that time unfolded in Irkutsk; as well as the December battles of 1917 and 1919, the partisan war, foreign intervention, and the arrest and execution of the White movement’s leader, A.V. Kolchak.

The main forces of the civil war are considered to be the “Whites” and the “Reds”, but little is said about the participation of anarchists in the fight for freedom.

Solidarity with Alfredo Cospito from Irkutsk anarchists

Alfredo Cospito is an Italian anarchist political prisoner, a member of the "Informal Anarchist Federation" (IFA).
Cospito was convicted for the attack on Roberto Adinolfi, general director of Ansaldo Nucleare, and was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the events of the night of June 2 to 3, 2006 at the Carabinieri Cadet School in Fossano (Cuneo), where two small bombs exploded, causing no death or injuries and no serious damage.

Author columns

Антти Раутиайнен

June 11th is the International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners. This action day has a long history, it was organized first time 20 years ago in 2004. In the first year, we managed to paint a graffiti to wall of one of the most guarded objects of Moscow,...

5 months ago
Антти Раутиайнен

Anarchist group ANA Regensburg hosted my online-presentation on 16th of May 2024, in which I discussed tactics of anti-war activism in Russia, and reasons why the anti-war movement has not been able to make an impact to change the course of events yet. Cases of anarchists repressed for anti-war...

5 months ago