Jailed Russian historian Yury Dmitriev, who uncovered Soviet mass graves, is sent back to prison without a diagnosis after a suspected stroke, supporters say

Historian Yury Dmitriev, 70, has been returned to Penal Colony No. 18 in Mordovia from a prison hospital, the human rights group ZPCh said, citing his support group. He was taken to the hospital in late September with a suspected stroke.“He’s not feeling very well. They suspected a stroke, but there’s been no diagnosis: the hospital doesn’t have the equipment to diagnose it. Dmitriev was given a course of injections. We don’t know what they gave him,” the support group said.Dmitriev’s supporters said he was prescribed bed rest until October 28. But until recently, staff at the penal colony were unaware of this and would not let him lie down, a woman from the support group told ZPCh.“It’s hard to keep count of how many times he’s been put in a punishment cell. One time it’s because the top button on his shirt isn’t fastened, another because he sat on his bed, another because he fed a cat. Being in a damp, unheated room doesn’t do his health any good,” the support group said.Yury Dmitriev is a historian and the former head of Memorial’s Karelia branch. In 1997, he discovered mass graves of victims of Soviet political repression in the Sandarmokh forest. He also compiled lists commemorating victims of political repression in Karelia.Dmitriev has been imprisoned since 2016, when he was charged with producing pornography involving his underage adopted daughter, committing lewd acts against her, and illegally possessing a firearm component.The case stemmed from photographs of his daughter found in his possession. He denied the charges and said he had taken the photographs solely for medical purposes, to track her development. In 2018, a court acquitted him on two of the charges. For the weapons possession offense, he received only a noncustodial sentence of 3.5 years of restricted freedom.Karelia’s Supreme Court later overturned that verdict. Authorities opened another criminal investigation into Dmitriev, this time for sexual assault. He was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in that case. In December 2021, a court in Petrozavodsk combined his sentences and ordered him to serve 15 years in a high-security penal colony.Dmitriev denied the charges in both cases. Memorial considers him a political prisoner. Scholars, cultural figures, and Nobel laureates have spoken out in his support.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.