The human rights project "Memorial" has recognized a pensioner from St. Petersburg, 67-year-old native of Dagestan Magomedgadzhi Rabadanov, as a political prisoner. In April, he was sentenced to five years in prison for "attempted cooperation with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine" (Article 275.1. of the Criminal Code "Cooperation on a confidential basis with a foreign state, international or foreign organization").

According to the investigation, the pensioner approached the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with a proposal to transfer some information and perform actions that "could contribute to the military defeat of the Russian Federation." Allegedly, employees of the Russian special services found out about this, and all of Rabadanov's meetings and correspondence took place under their supervision. He himself claims that the security forces simply set him up and organized remote access to all of his electronic devices.

According to human rights activists, the article on “confidential cooperation” criminalizes any communication between Russian citizens and foreigners and allows for punishment for the alleged intent to assist.

“Even if Rabadanov had really corresponded with Ukrainian intelligence, the threat of these actions to the security of the Russian Federation would not have been obvious. Most likely, his “contact with the GUR” was initially the result of a provocation, as often happens in such cases. At the same time, the man did not have time to commit any actions within the framework of “cooperation with a foreign state,” so in any case he could not have been charged with a completed crime,” Memorial emphasizes.