Political prisoner in Russia’s Omsk region revealed to have died almost a year ago

A Russian political prisoner from western Siberia’s Omsk region was revealed to have died almost a year ago while serving his sentence, according to an activist who regularly exchanged letters with him.

According to Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Roman Tyurin, a 55-year-old Omsk region native who was imprisoned after being convicted of four separate charges relating to anti-war posts on social media he made, died in the penal colony on 17 February, Nobel-Prize-winning human rights organisation Memorial announced on Thursday.

Memorial said that it had been made aware of Tyurin’s death when a letter written to him by an activist it named only as Anastasia was returned to her without being opened, accompanied by a note from the penal colony dated 28 May saying that the letter’s return was due to Tyurin’s death on 17 February. Anastasia received the letter on Wednesday.

Roman Tyurin was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in 2024 over anti-war social media posts for which he was charged with justification of terrorism, repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army, spreading false information about the Russian military, and making public calls for actions threatening national security.