St. Petersburg police detain German citizen over small donation to Anti-Corruption Foundation
St. Petersburg police detained a 41-year-old citizen of a European country on suspicion of transferring 900 rubles to an organization that Russian authorities have designated “extremist,” the regional department of the Internal Affairs Ministry announced.
Police searched the suspect’s apartment on Aptekarsky Lane and seized a laptop and a mobile device, but did not specify which organization was involved.
The St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka reported that the detained man founded a fitness studio and holds German citizenship. According to the outlet, he had donated to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which Russia has designated an extremist and terrorist organization.
St. Petersburg police detained Igor Zaytsev, a 58-year-old candidate of philosophical sciences, on August 12 on suspicion of transferring 3,500 rubles to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. A court ordered him held in pretrial detention.
The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona calculated that at least 225 criminal cases had been opened across Russia by April 2026 over donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation made after Russia banned the group in August 2021. The outlet said the true number could be higher, since courts don’t always disclose enough information.
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.