St. Petersburg’s Kuibyshevsky District Court has ordered the arrest of activist Ariadna Litvinova, the city’s joint court press service announced earlier today. She was deported from Turkey on July 4.
Litvinova’s father, Valery Kryzhanovsky, who lives in Turkey, told the BBC Russian Service that his daughter was expelled from the country after she overstayed the visa-free travel period. She came to stay with her father in September 2025 after a criminal investigation was opened against her in Russia. In May, the two had a dispute and he called the police. He said he did not file a complaint against his daughter, but she was detained over migration violations. Litvinova spent about a month in a deportation center, and her father said he learned from news reports that she had been sent to Russia.
In Russia, Litvinova stands charged with the repeated “discrediting” of the army — a criminal offense that is used to prosecute citizens who engage in anti-war speech and criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the Memorial human rights project, Litvinova marked the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by writing “Killers,” “Peace to Ukraine” and “Freedom for prisoners” on pro-war advertising banners near the General Staff Arch in St. Petersburg. Investigators estimated the damage at 135,536 rubles (just over $1,700 at current exchange rates). The next day, a court fined her 50,000 rubles ($650) under the administrative charge of “discrediting” the army, then ordered her arrest on charges of criminal vandalism.
In March 2025, a court eased Litvinova’s pretrial restrictions, releasing her from detention while imposing certain unnamed limits on her activities. She likely formally violated those by leaving Russia for Turkey, and the court subsequently ordered her back into custody.
Rights defenders call the case the first known deportation from Turkey to Russia of a person facing politically motivated criminal charges. In September 2025, the Kovcheg (lit. “The Ark”) project reported an attempted deportation from Turkey of a Russian man who had faced persecution and threats at home over an online comment. According to rights defenders, the man was detained shortly after contacting a Russian diplomatic mission, and Turkish authorities decided to deport him on national security grounds. Formally, the decision was processed as a Turkish administrative measure and was not linked to criminal prosecution in Russia.
The Ark suggested that information about the man may have been passed by Russian authorities to Interpol’s Turkish bureau while bypassing the organization’s central office. Rights defenders eventually secured his departure from Turkey to a safe third country, rather than to Russia.
