Founder of project commemorating victims of political repression disappears after being detained in Russian city of Tver

Update: Andrey Shalayev has been found. He reported that he was safe on the project’s Telegram channel. He confirmed that he had been detained in the city of Tver. He said the reason for his detention was guiding a tour for French journalists to the Mednoe memorial complex. Shalayev promised to provide details of his detention at a later date and said he intends to appeal the police officers’ actions.

Andrey Shalayev, the founder of Immortal Barracks, a Russian project commemorating the victims of political repression, went missing after being detained in the Russian city of Tver.

On October 19, Shalayev told human rights advocacy group OVD-Info that he was detained at the Tver train station while waiting at a cafe for his train. He said they wanted to open a report against him for public intoxication.

The last time anyone made contact with him was on the evening of October 19.

“At the moment, we don’t know where Andrey is located. His phone is not available. All police agencies, temporary holding facilities, special detention centers, Federal Security Service, Investigative Committee and others have told Andrey’s lawyer and father that they don’t have him in their custody. We couldn’t reach medical facilities, no one answered the phone,” reads the project’s statement.