In December 2023, trans man and LGBTQ+ activist Mark Kislitsyn was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian prison after transferring 865 roubles (approximately $10) to a Ukrainian bank account. Amnesty International has released an urgent appeal for the activist to be released, stating that he is being held in “inhuman and degrading conditions”.

Since the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mark Kislitsyn has been a vocal anti-war protester. He was arrested and fined in February 2022 for participating in anti-war pickets and sharing critical posts.

On July 12, 2023, the trans activist was arrested again on charges of “high treason”, with Russian authorities alleging that, hours after the start of the invasion, he sent money ($10) to an account that they said was collecting “donations for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

The Moscow City Court sentenced Kislitsyn to 12 years in a penal colony on December 23, 2023. According to Amnesty, the trans man was placed in the women’s penal colony IK-9 in Novosibirsk (Western Siberia) and is being forced to wear women’s clothing. He has also been denied access to gender-affirming care, which puts his health at risk.

The human rights organisation says that since November 2024, Kislitsyn has “repeatedly been arbitrarily placed in a punishment cell (so-called SHIZO) on spurious grounds”. He is also “held in inhuman and degrading conditions including prolonged solitary confinement and numbing cold.”

The group shared an excerpt from a letter the activist wrote from prison, which read: “Those who are trying to intimidate me… can do me a little harm, but no matter what they do, they cannot make me renounce my beliefs, lose my sense of belonging to my country or even ruin my mood.”

In a statement about the case, Amnesty International’s Russia Researcher Natalia Prilutskaya said: “Imprisoning Mark Kislitsyn in a penal colony on ‘treason’ charges for sending US$ 10 to an account in Ukraine defies common sense. The real aim of this prosecution is not protecting state security but punishing a committed human rights activist for his anti-war position.

“His relentless persecution and ill-treatment, including denial of the medical care he needs as a transgender man and prolonged arbitrary periods in a punishment cell – mostly in solitary confinement – proves this.

“We demand Mark Kislitsyn’s immediate release and an end to the persecution of all anti-war activists in Russia.”