Poet Artem Kamardin beaten and raped by Russian police

Activist and poet Artem Kamardin has been beaten and raped by Moscow police, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on Monday.

A source reportedly told the outlet that security agents “beat Kamardin severely and shoved a dumbbell into his anus.” They then forced him to apologize on camera for saying the words “Glory to Kyivan Rus — Novorossiya can suck it" at an anti-mobilization gathering.

Earlier on September 26, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that police had gone to the apartment where Kamardin lives to “inspect the premises,” citing Kamardin’s lawyer, Leonid Solovyov. After the “inspection,” Solovyov said, the police took Kamardin, along with activists Alexandra Popova and Alexander Menyukov, who he lives with, to a police station.

The Telegram channel 112 posted a video that shows Kamardin apologizing “to the multi-ethnic Russian people” with what appear to be bruises and cuts on his face.

OVD-Info reported later on September 26 that Alexandra Popova has been released from police custody. She told the independent outlet that officers pulled out her hair, applied superglue to her mouth and face, threatened to rape her, and showed her a video of them raping Kamardin.

On September 25, Artem Kamardin took part in a poetry reading dedicated to opposing Russia’s mobilization. It was there that he read the words he was later forced to apologize for.