Igor Olivenich – Dark Nights

Russian Authorities Consider Any Anarchist Black Cross Groups an “Undesirable Organization”

Posted on 2025/08/23 - 2025/08/23 by darknights

At the beginning of 2024, the Russian Ministry of Justice added the American Anarchist Black Cross Federation to its list of “undesirable organizations.” At that time, Anarchist Black Cross Moscow (ABC Moscow) publicly stated that it had no organizational ties to the American federation: ABC groups worldwide are autonomous, and Russian groups have never been part of the American federation.

However, in 2025, it became clear that the Russian authorities consider not only the American federation to be “undesirable” — they are targeting all ABC groups.

The Pretext: A Book by Belarusian Anarchist Igor Olinevich

In December 2024, the book “I’m Going to Magadan” by Belarusian anarchist Igor Olinevich was purchased in sting operations at the “Falanster” bookstore in Moscow and “Podpisnye Izdaniya” in St. Petersburg. In the spring of 2025, both stores were prosecuted (source) under the article about participation in the activities of an “undesirable organization.” The basis for the charges? A postscript in the book, signed by the ABC-Belarus collective.

The book itself was published by the Russian cooperative Radical Theory and Practice, which has no affiliation with the American ABC federation — but that didn’t matter to the authorities.

What Does This Mean in Practice?

As of 2025, even reposting, donating to, or publishing content featuring ABC symbols or affiliations can be grounds for prosecution in Russia.

This can lead to both administrative and criminal charges, including:

Misdemeanor: Participation in the activity of an “undesirable organization” (under administrative law).
Felony (under criminal law):
- Up to 4 years in prison for participating,
- Up to 5 years for financing,
- Up to 6 years for organizing such activities.

Actions that can lead to persecution in Russia:

– Participating in ABC group activities
– Reposting or publicly mentioning ABC
– Sending donations to ABC
– Distributing publications associated with ABC (including Olinevich’s book)

Even historical continuity from anarchists in the Russian Empire is now a reason for persecution. The Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) was founded in Russia in 1906, originally as the Anarchist Red Cross, later renamed. Since then, anarchists have supported political prisoners — and they will continue to do so, regardless of repression.

ABC Moscow Today

All members of ABC-Moscow have left the territory of the Russian Federation. We continue to assist those whom the Russian authorities persecute for their anarchist and anti-fascist beliefs: with evacuation, adaptation to life abroad, legal, and material support.

Support Our Work (If You Are Outside Russia):

PayPal: abc-msk@riseup.net

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Contact Us: abc-msk@riseup.net
Solidarity is our weapon!

Source: Avtonom

News about some imprisoned comrades in Russia and Belarus. October 2024

Posted on 2024/11/13 by darknights

Drawing by the imprisoned anarchist Sergey Romanov

November 3, 2024

Anarchist Alexei Rozhkov is being charged under the article “terrorist act” for the arson of a military enlistment office in Berezovsky in March 2022, as well as for “justifying terrorism” and “spreading fakes” about the Russian army due to an interview he gave to “Khodorkovsky Live” while in Kyrgyzstan. At the end of May 2023, Rozhkov was illegally transported out of Kyrgyzstan, where he had previously fled, fearing the intensification of the charges. In total, Alexey could face up to 22.5 years of imprisonment.

At one of the court hearings, Lyudmila Reutova, a Russian language and literature teacher and the mother of Alexei’s classmate with whom he had previously lived for six months, testified. The brave woman did not hesitate to say that she knows Alexei as an intelligent, creative, and well-read young man, and also emphasized that he is an empathetic and kind person.

There is much to say about Alexei, but only good things <…> It pains me greatly to see Alexei in the dock. I consider Alexey my son. I am proud that fate brought me together with such a person. He is probably one of the best people I have ever met in my life.” Reutova does not consider Alexei to be a terrorist; she calls him a patriot: “Terrorism is when a plane flies into the Twin Towers and hundreds, thousands of people die. Terrorism is when people come to a concert, and they get shot in the chest. Terrorism is when a mother, with a child in her arms, brought her second child to the first grade, and everyone dies. But Alexey is not a terrorist. Alexei is not an enemy of our country. Alexei is not an enemy of our people <…> Patriotism is not just love for your land, not just for the territory where you live, for the place where you were born, it is love for your people. It is the readiness to sacrifice oneself, to give one’s life for the betterment of the people, for the freedom of the people. And in this regard, I believe that Alexei… he can be called a patriot.

The next court hearing in Alexei’s case is scheduled for November 20.

An 18-year-old antifascist, Yuri Mikheev, faces up to 10 years in prison. A year ago, on November 11, 2023, he and a friend were detained on the territory of a military unit in the Moscow region. The FSB accused the young men of planning to set military equipment on fire. The young men were charged under articles on “preparation for sabotage.” On October 9, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow extended the detention of Yury Mikheyev and 20-year-old brothers Matvey and Timofey Melnikov in a pre-trial detention center for 1 month. At the hearing, it became known that a new case had been opened against the Melnikov brothers for “treason” (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and participation in a “terrorist organization” (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is likely related to the fact that they confessed to carrying out a mission for the Free Russia Legion. The charge against Yuri Mikheev has not changed – “preparation for sabotage.” Continue reading “News about some imprisoned comrades in Russia and Belarus. October 2024” →

Belarus: Igor Olinevich turned 40 years old!

Posted on 2024/01/09 by darknights

Missed from 24th September 2023:

Today, September 24, is the 40th anniversary of our dear comrade, revolutionary and political prisoner Igor Olinevich. 40 years is the age of deep maturity. A maturity that Igor was not lacking in his 20s and that was strengthened during his struggle both on the outside and in prison.

As a 27-year-old anarchist activist in 2010, he was imprisoned for his beliefs and spent 5 years in prison. Prison is not a place for development, it is a place of personal destruction. But for revolutionaries who are firm in their convictions, there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome in the pursuit of freedom, if not universal, at least personal freedom. That is why Igor and his comrades from the Black Banner group illegally returned to Belarus in 2020 and took part in the uprising with exceptional courage and selflessness. The group was captured in the border forest while trying to escape. Igor and three other comrades received up to 20 years of strict regime. At the same time, the comrades bravely admitted their participation in the rebellion, denying guilt despite the consequences.

Paradoxically, it is those people who dream of freedom more than others who are often condemned to a life of absolute captivity because they did not agree to live in semi-freedom. For anarchist-revolutionaries, half-measures are unacceptable. It is thanks to such dedicated people that we are content with more and more freedoms that we take for granted. It is worth remembering that we owe all the freedoms we have to the brave who spent their lives behind bars or laid them on the altar of revolution. Continue reading “Belarus: Igor Olinevich turned 40 years old!” →

Belarus: Hunger strike of Ihar Alinevich – what is known now

Posted on 2022/10/12 - 2022/10/12 by darknights

Ihar Alinevich , an anarcho-partisan sentenced to 20 years for participating in the Belarusian uprising, went on hunger strike. Members of the Anarchist Black Cross collected the latest information about Igor from the Facebook of his mother Valentina Alinevich and from his close friends. Here’s what we were able to find out.

On October 5, Ihar’s lawyer tried to get to him, but did not. He will try to get to him next week. According to unconfirmed reports, Ihar is still in the penal cell, where he was visited by the prosecutor. It is very difficult to get any information about Ihar. Even his mother has not been able to see her son for years; there is no way to get in touch with him by phone; all letters are censored and often do not reach him at all. It may be difficult for foreigners to understand this, but if the country is “out of touch with the laws,” then information can be quite scarce.

Ihar’s hunger strike and demands

Ihar began his hunger strike on September 19. The exact demands are not known for certain, but apparently the last straw was a report on his placement in a punishment cell. Prior to that, he had sent complaints to higher authorities about the arbitrariness of the prison administration, but received no response. Therefore, Ihar suggests that these complaints did not leave the prison at all.

Transfer to prison regime

From the camp where Ihar was serving his sentence, he was transferred to a prison regime. Under what pretext is not known, but he had assumed it would happen. This is a mass phenomenon among Belarus political prisoners. If a person has dignity and will, this is a necessary consequence. Continue reading “Belarus: Hunger strike of Ihar Alinevich – what is known now” →

June 11, 2022: International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners

Posted on 2022/05/21 by darknights

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As time moves on and the seasons change, we approach once again the June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners. Another year has passed, and many of our dear comrades remain captives of the state, subject to its daily subjugation, isolation, and brutality. June 11th is a time to stop the ever-quickening rush of our lives and remember.

Remember our imprisoned comrades. Remember our own histories of revolt. Remember the flame – sometimes flickering, sometimes blazing – of anarchism.

WE ARE ALL POTENTIAL PRISONERS

With June 11th, we desire to deepen a critique of prison that challenges the distinction between prisoner and supporter. For us, these differences are conditional: we, as anarchists, see ourselves as potential prisoners. Some of us have been, some of us will be. This is the basis of our solidarity – a recognition of ourselves in the plight of those in prison.

The continuum of prisoner and supporter can only be seen as tenuous if one looks to the examples of imprisoned and formerly-imprisoned comrades: Marius Mason’s activity with the Anarchist Black Cross, Bill Dunne’s liberation of an anarchist prisoner, Pola Roupa’s attempted helicopter rescue of anarchist prisoners, Claudio Lavazza‘s actions to liberate prisoners. The connections deepen when one considers that numerous anarchist prisoners are locked up for attacks on prison, judicial, and police institutions; and that others connect us to prisoner uprisings from California and Alabama to Greece and Italy. Continue reading “June 11, 2022: International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners” →

Czech Rep: Money for anarchists, necklace for Lukashenko

Posted on 2022/04/20 by darknights

Some time ago, a decision was made to raise funds for the anarchists being prosecuted in so-called Belarus. First there was a tattoo fundraiser and later a fundraising D.I.Y. book published under the title “Words Against Isolation or As Long As There Are Prisons, Let’s Write Letters.” So far, these activities have raised 700 euro. These funds will support five anarchists convicted for their willingness to resist the dictatorship. Namely these people: Nikola Dziadok (sentenced for 5 years), Sergei Romanov (sentenced for 20 years), Igor Olinevich (sentenced for 20 years), Dmitri Rezanovich (sentenced for 19 years) and Dmitri Dubovsky (sentenced for 18 years).

Alexander Lukashenko is the leader of a dictatorship that defends its existence by torturing and imprisoning the opposition. It is good not to forget this, which is why an unusual ‘necklace’ has been created for Lukashenko. It is only a drawn one, but perhaps one day someone will make him a real one.

Source: https://lukasborl.noblogs.org/money-for-anarchists-necklace-for-lukashenko/

Rome, Italy: Paper bomb (bomba carta) against the Belarusian embassy

Posted on 2022/03/26 - 2022/03/26 by darknights

On a cold night in March we threw a paper bomb (DN: Bomba carta, like a powerful firecracker, card outer and blackpoweder inside) at the Belarusian embassy, located in Rome in the Montesacro district, in Via delle Alpi Apuane.

We know that the press agencies assumed that it was a gesture related to the involvement of the Belarusian regime with the Russian one in the ongoing war in Ukraine. It’s not just that. It is undeniable the servility of the government of Lukashenko, dictator of the country since 1994, towards his friend Putin; despite this, it is clear to us that this, as always happens when States and their respective interests clash, is a war between powers to redefine new geopolitical balances, to share new/old spheres of economic, military and political influence. This war full of blood and sowing of death is the responsibility of Belarus as well as of Europe, NATO, Russia and the Ukrainian government itself. There are no possible sides in this kind of wars, if not on the side of those who defect, those who resist and those who counterattack the real enemies.

Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime, among other things, was responsible for the brutal repression of the spontaneous and decentralized uprisings in Belarus at the dawn of his umpteenth “re-election” in August 2020. After thousands of arrests, beatings, tortures, rapes and a few murders, when many of the most active protesters were in prison or forced into exile, the regime changed its strategy, allowing large weekly demonstrations in the capital Minsk alone, while at the same time crushing self-organized realities in the provinces. The myth of peaceful protest and the recuperative sirens of nonviolence did the rest: the belief that the mass demonstrations would have led Lukashenko to abdicate the throne ended up extinguishing the spark that had ignited the anger of so many.

The anarchist realities in Belarus for several years were already under the eye of repression of the regime and many fugitive comrades abroad have decided to return to the riots and fight, forming their own groups. Among them, Igor Olinevich, Dmitry Rezanovich, Segej Romanov and Dmitry Dubovsky are four comrades who were arrested on the orders of the Belarusian KGB in the fall of 2020 near the border with Ukraine, and who were then tortured to extract confessions. At the end of a mock trial they were sentenced to between 18 and 20 years in prison, for possession of weapons and for acts of terrorism, related to arson attacks against cars and offices belonging to the organs of repression. These are the highest sentences ever imposed so far in the history of post-Soviet Belarus.

This gesture of ours is dedicated to them, and to all the comrades who continue to fight inside and outside the prisons.
For the prisoners killed during the March 2020 uprising in Italian prisons, who still cry out for revenge.

For international solidarity!
For anarchy!

Source: Inferno Urbano

Czech Republic: Words against isolation: a benefit for persecuted anarchists in Belarus

Posted on 2022/01/27 by darknights

On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, a D.I.Y. book was published under the title “Words Against isolation or As Long As There Are Prisons, Let’s Write Letters”. There are two main reasons to create this publication. First is to motivate people to write to prisoners, while obtaining funds for anarchists imprisoned in so-called Belarus.

On 110 A4 pages I inform you why and how to write letters. I’m connecting reflections arising from my personal experience of imprisonment as well as collage including fragments of prison correspondence. I want to demonstrate on concrete examples of what can be encouraging for a person behind bars and exciting joy. Perhaps this will allow people who are going to write letters empathize with the situation of the prisoner and it will inspire them.

I dusted off the “cut and paste” method I loved to use in the creation of punk zine graphics. I’m not a graphic designer, nor am I trying make such an impression. Creating collages and editing was fun for me. I hope it will amuse someone else too. And even if not, I don’t see a problem with that. Continue reading “Czech Republic: Words against isolation: a benefit for persecuted anarchists in Belarus” →

Belarus: Blood on your hands – information about anarcho-partisan torture

Posted on 2022/01/19 by darknights

28/12/21

Today the sister of anarchist Dzmitry Dubovsky published a short story after visiting the activist in the detention center. In particular, the story is about the torture that was used against the guerrillas in the first days after the detention: the punishers cut the skin off Igor Olinevich‘s heels, and Dubovsky himself was strangled with a bag and suspended in a so-called swallow. Previously, it was already reported that Sergej Romanov cut open his veins because of beatings by border guards.

We are well aware that anarchist activists have repeatedly faced beatings by the punitive authorities. But since August 2020, the cops no longer have any brakes at all. This blatant sadism existed in the so-called “law enforcement” agencies even before the protests began. A person does not turn into an animal overnight. Many tortures and beatings before the “political” were tried on ordinary prisoners.

The story of the anarcho-partisans is just a drop of what is now happening in the country. There are thousands of people sitting behind bars who have no voice at all and we have no doubt that they are being beaten and tortured on an ongoing basis. Even after they are sentenced. The Belarusian dictatorship has evolved from an authoritarian regime into a sect of sadists, ready to shed blood not just to keep power, but to enjoy the process itself. If you have any doubts about the people working in the MIA/KGB system, then think of all those who are now fighting in prisons for your and our freedom.

We will never forget every drop of blood spilled in the fight against the regime. For every groan and cry, not only the officers, but every asshole who carried out the sentence will pay. You may have won in 2020, but the war on the dictatorship continues!

Until everyone is free!

Source: Pramen

Belarus: 18 to 20 years’ imprisonment for Belarusian anarcho-partisans

Posted on 2022/01/08 - 2022/01/08 by darknights

The sentence was announced today for a group of anarcho-partisans who held a series of direct actions against the dictatorship about a year ago. In an attempt to isolate the activists, the trial was held in camera and only the pronouncement of the sentence was made public.

Sentences:

Siarhei Ramanau – 20 years
Ihar Alinevich – 20 years
Dzmitry Rezanovich – 19
Dzmitry Dubousky – 18 years

Enormous sentences for symbolic actions are an example of the dictatorship’s fear of anarchists. So far, these sentences are the longest in the history of political repression in the country.

Source: ABC Belarus