Georgii Chentemirov

Bailiffs recruit debtors for war in Ukraine

A resident of Karelia, who owed 169 rubles (€1,70) for utilities, was offered to go to the front.
January 02, 2024

Karelian enlistment officers recruited illegal migrants to the war in Ukraine

People who ended up in a special detention center after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the Finnish border were offered to save themselves from deportation by signing a contract with the Russian Armed Forces.
December 18, 2023

Sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky is fined for video about Crimean Bridge blast. He was reported to police by Ukhta’s “chief pioneer”

The court believed that the video about the “explosive congratulations of the cat Mostik” justified terrorism. The hearing and the verdict took only 24 hours.
December 13, 2023

The ECHR awards compensation for inhumane conditions in Russian prisons

Prisoners are unable to have their basic needs met – from access to fresh air to privacy in the toilet.
December 01, 2023

“Maybe he would be dead already, but it wouldn’t be so disgusting.” Instead of treatment, wounded soldiers from Ukraine war are forced back to the front or persecuted for refusing to fight

Military doctors refuse to diagnose serious injuries among soldiers wounded in Ukraine while their commanders demand that they continue to serve, despite their poor physical condition. The Barents Observer tells the stories of two fighters from the Murmansk region who are now in hospital while their wives are trying to save their husbands from war and criminal prosecution.
November 24, 2023

FSB arranges transport to the border, motel in Kandalaksha claims

"Our services came and picked them up,” a receptionist with the motel in Kandalaksha said when called by the Barents Observer on Tuesday. A few hours later, 41 migrants crossed the border to Finish Lapland at Salla checkpoint.
November 21, 2023

He killed his drinking buddy with a stool and slept with a teenager. A school in the North Russian region of Komi will keep medals of the criminal turned “hero of the Special Military Operation”

Sergei Durkin, a native of the village of Ust-Tsilma in Komi, spent many years behind bars. From prison, he was recruited to fight in Ukraine where he was killed on November 9, 2022. A year later, the house he had lived in was decorated with a memorial plaque, while his awards, including those from the Wagner paramilitary group, were taken to a local school. The Barents Observer spoke with the soldier's sister and with the principal of the school where they intend to keep Durkin's awards, regardless of his past.
November 20, 2023

Barge with 350 tons of fuel started drifting in Barents Sea after tugboat broke down

November 07, 2023

Guarding the spiritual bonds. North Russian region of Komi establishes a morals watchdog

The Council for the preservation of spiritual and moral values made up of a foul-mouthed governor, a priest who loves his foreign-made car, Cossacks and pro-government journalists will defend the Russian language, fight destructive elements and strengthen civil unity.
October 31, 2023

Pro-Kremlin activists stage a “patriotic” event near the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow

Representatives of a pro-Kremlin movement, which promotes war and is suspected of attacks on journalists, decided to respond to the wreath incident that occurred in Norway’s Kirkenes on Liberation Day from the Nazi invaders.
October 30, 2023

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