Moscow lawyer who defended ‘Bolotnaya Square’ defendants detained on fraud charges
A Moscow lawyer named Igor Popovsky has been detained on fraud charges, according to the Russian security services-linked Telegram channels Baza and 112 and the Federal Investigative Committee, which has not identified the detainee by name.
According to the Investigative Committee, Popovsky took on a Moscow woman as a client in June 2022 when she was facing fraud charges, then in April 2025 convinced her he could get the criminal case against her dropped — in exchange for payment — by exerting influence over prosecutors and judges.
Popovsky received six million rubles from the woman, the Investigative Committee said, but had no “real ability” to influence the court’s decision and “did not intend to pass the money to any officials.”
The Telegram channel 112 reported that Popovsky has confessed to the charges.
Igor Popovsky also defended anarchist Ruslan Sidiki in a case involving sabotage of a railway and a drone attack on the Dyagilevo airfield; Oleg Arkhipenkov and other defendants in the Bolotnaya Square mass unrest case, nationalist Alexander Potkin (Belov); and a member of the “Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists” (BORN), Yuri Tikhomirov, Mediazona reports.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.