Armenia Detains Russian Anti-War Activist Amid Controversial Extradition Request from Moscow

A Russian anti-war activist, who was sentenced to imprisonment in her homeland, has been detained in Armenia for over a month following an extradition request from Moscow, as reported by media outlets on Wednesday.

Lilya Manyukhina, 29, along with two other activists, was convicted in 2023 for aggravated robbery stemming from an incident in the previous year in Moscow, where they allegedly took a pistol from an individual who confronted them while they were placing anti-war posters.

Manyukhina and another activist escaped Russia in 2024 after serving part of her two-and-a-half-year prison term, ultimately relocating to Armenia.

As per the Armenian news source CivilNet, Manyukhina was apprehended in Armenia on August 30 in response to Russia’s extradition request.

Armenian courts reportedly ruled to keep Manyukhina in custody for an initial 40 days, which was later extended by an additional two months at the request of the country’s Ministry of Justice.

Her lawyer contended that the charges brought against her in Russia are politically motivated, asserting that extraditing her would lead to an unjust trial and the risk of torture. Human rights organizations in Armenia have urged the government to reconsider its legal commitments to Russia, citing its history of human rights abuses and its recent expulsion from the Council of Europe.

Manyukhina is currently awaiting a decision regarding her application for political asylum in Armenia.

In recent months, Armenian authorities have reportedly denied at least seven extradition requests from Russia on political grounds.

Manyukhina, along with fellow activists Kirill Timofeyev and Anastasia Polyakova, was initially arrested in Moscow in April 2022.

In October of last year, a Moscow court sentenced Polyakova to six years in prison for robbery or extortion of weapons. This sentence was subsequently reduced to a five-year suspended sentence by the Moscow City Court in May 2025.

The Russian human rights organization Memorial has classified all three activists as political prisoners.