In Berezniki, Perm Krai, security forces detained activist Elena Guseva after a search of her home. At the same time, human rights defender, lawyer and former police officer Artem Faizulin and his wife Irina were also detained. The man was later released, while Elena and Irina were transferred to Perm. On August 28, the Lenin District Court ordered both women into pre-trial detention for nearly two months.
They are accused of making donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), established by Alexei Navalny in 2011.
Novaya Gazeta has reported how people across Russia are increasingly being prosecuted for donating to Navalny’s FBK. In just three years, almost 80 criminal cases have been launched, more than 30 of them in 2025 alone. Now this outrageous statistic has been expanded with two courageous and committed residents of Perm Krai.
Elena Guseva is a civic activist and a well-known athlete. In 2013, she entered the Guinness World Records by swimming across the Bering Strait as part of an international relay team — 134 kilometers from Chukotka to Alaska. Later, the name of this extraordinary and accomplished sportswoman began to appear more often in police records for participating in anti-war protests.
•In 2022, she was fined 40,000 rubles under the law on “discrediting the army” for a picket with the slogan: “Peace to Ukraine! Freedom to Russia! Putin to The Hague!”
•In 2023, she was sentenced to compulsory labor for refusing to pay the fine.
•In February 2024, she was detained for laying flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny.
Two years ago, in an interview with Idel.Realii, Guseva spoke about the war in Ukraine, her civic activity, and support from her family. She said:
I always wanted politics to stay out of my life. I wanted there to be sport, joy, and art. But at some point, I felt that harmony around me was broken, there was more evil. It required my intervention — I could not remain indifferent.”
Elena Guseva is also a mother of three children, one of them underage.