Liudmyla Honchar, Dmitry Marsov and Timur Magomedov are political prisoners
A Ukrainian national and two Russians have been remanded in custody on charges of making donations to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Liudmyla Honchar, Dmitry Marsov and Timur Magomedov political prisoners. The three are being prosecuted on charges of financing extremist activity for alleged donations to Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Their prosecution violates their rights to freedom of association and fair trial. We demand the release of Honchar, Marsov and Magomedov and an end to all criminal prosecutions in connection with donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
What are the charges against Honchar, Marsov and Magomedov?
On 9 June 2021 Moscow City Court designated three organisations linked to Aleksei Navalny as extremist, one of which was the Anti-Corruption Foundation. The decision came into force on 4 August 2021.
The following day, Navalny’s team appealed to supporters for help and suggested using the anonymous payment platform Stripe.
On 6 September 2022, the first criminal cases relating to donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation were reported. According to our information, since then, at least 44 people have been charged with financing extremism (Article 282.3, Part 1, of the Russian Criminal Code). Initially, law enforcement agencies exploited a technical error that occurred on the first day of fundraising. On that day, in some cases, Russian banks received text markers that indirectly indicated the purpose of payments. Later, the investigative authorities cited a recipient’s ID number at a US bank, even though no link to the Anti-Corruption Foundation has been proven.
Courts have already convicted at least 30 people in connection with donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Most were given heavy fines; seven were sentenced to terms of imprisonment, of whom four, including Aleksei Navalny, were convicted on this charge in combination with other charges.
In April 2025, it emerged that Liudmyla Honchar, a Ukrainian citizen, had been held in a Moscow remand prison since December 2024. That same month, a Moscow court remanded Dmitry Marsov and Timur Magomedov into custody. All three are charged with financing the Anti-Corruption Foundation. We do not have detailed information about their cases; we know only that Marsov is alleged to have transferred 1,500 roubles.
Why do we consider Liudmyla Honchar, Dmitry Marsov and Timur Magomedov political prisoners?
We have analysed the materials that formed the basis for Moscow City Court’s decision to designate Aleksei Navalny’s organisations as extremist. We consider that decision politically motivated and unlawful.
First, no evidence of extremist activity by these organisations was presented. Politically motivated administrative or criminal proceedings against individual staff members are not evidence for such a designation.
Second, even regular state audits had failed to reveal any extremist activity in the work of these organisations, though the court nonetheless attached the results of these audits to the case as supposed evidence of extremism.
We do not know whether Liudmyla Honchar, Dmitry Marsov or Timur Magomedov admitted making donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, nor how the investigative authorities are seeking to prove that they did so. In any case, funding the Anti-Corruption Foundation is not a crime. The criminal prosecution of Honchar, Marsov and Magomedov is based on the unlawful decision of Moscow City Court and is therefore also politically motivated and unlawful.
A detailed description of the case and the position of the Human Rights Project are available on our website.
Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the project, ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial,’ agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.
How can you help?
You can write to Liudmyla Honchar and Dmitry Marsov at the following addresses:
RU:
109383, г. Москва, ул. Шоссейная, д. 92, ФКУ СИЗО-6 ГУФСИН России по г. Москве, Гончар Людмиле Владимировне 1979 г. р.
125130, г. Москва, ул. Выборгская, д. 20, ФКУ СИЗО-5 УФСИН России по г. Москве Водник, Марсову Дмитрию Николаевичу 1970 г. р.
EN:
Liudmyla Volodymyrivna Honchar (born 1979), Remand Prison No. 6, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the city of Moscow, 92 Shosseinaya Street, Moscow, 109383, Russia.
Dmitry Nikolaevich Marsov (born 1970), Remand Prison No. 5 [‘Vodnik’], Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the city of Moscow, 20 Vyborgskaya Street, Moscow, 125130, Russia.
You can also send emails using the F-Pismo and ZT services (for payment with Russian bank cards) or PrisonMail (for payment with other bank cards), OVD-Info and Memorial-France (free of charge).
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.
If you have information about where Timur Magomedov is being held, please contact us via our Telegram bot or email: [email protected].
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
