In Elista, a human rights activist and editor-in-chief of the independent publication Free Kalmykia, 72-year-old Valery Badmaev, was arrested. He is accused of "Public calls to carry out extremist activities" (Article 280, part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is reported by Activation.
Badmaev himself managed to tell about the detention, calling his friend from someone else's number. According to the latter, the journalist's apartment was searched, the police confiscated his phone and laptop. Local activists, writes Aktivatika, believe that Badmaev's arrest is part of the growing pressure on human rights activists involved in anti-war activities. It may also be related to the recent appointment of Kirill Popov to the post of head of the administration of the head of Kalmykia instead of the dismissed Chingis Berikov.
From the very beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, Badmaev has been critical of Vladimir Putin. He recorded videos on his YouTube channel in which he spoke about the victims of the war. In March, he was charged with “discrediting” the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Since the end of September, the journalist has spoken out against "partial" mobilization and spoke about the need to cancel it in Kalmykia.