February 28, 2024

A Mathematician in Prison. Again


A Mathematician in Prison. Again
A political action in support of mathematician Azat Miftakhov at the building of the General Prosecutor's Office in Moscow. Natdemina, Wikimedia Commons

In September 2023, a court in Kirov arrested Moscow State University mathematician and postgraduate student Azat Miftakhov under charges of "justifying terrorism." The day before, Miftakhov had been released from the penal colony where he was serving a sentence.

At the court hearing to select a preventive measure, the investigator said that Miftakhov, "being an active participant in the terrorist organization, carried out propaganda of terrorism among the convicts."

The case against Miftakhov is based on the testimony of two prisoners and a third classified witness. The mathematician allegedly said, while in the penal colony, that he "will take revenge" for the death of his friend who died defending Ukraine from the Russian invasion, spoke about the need to "blow up the FSB officers," and also that "the war with the occupiers must be waged not only in Ukraine but also in Russia." In addition, according to investigators, Miftakhov allegedly approved the action of Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who attacked Arkhangelsk's FSB department.

According to the investigative outlet Proekt, the Article of the Criminal Code "on the justification of terrorism" is one of the main repressive tools the Putin regime is employing. Over the past six years, from 2018 to 2023, 1,560 people have been tried under it.

It is also noteworthy that one of the witnesses in the case, Rufan Gadzhimuradov, was released after testifying. Gadzhimuradov was sentenced to prison for twenty-six months for robbery and beating a woman. After his testimony, he was released after serving just six months in prison.

Miftakhov was detained on September 4,  at the exit from the colony in Omutninsk, Kirov Oblast, where his friends, wife, and mother were waiting for him. "I don't even know why they're doing this to him... We talked a little, and I asked him: 'Is it true that they won't let you go?' He says: 'Mom, this is all made up.' I don't know what to think. Apparently, they are afraid of him," Miftakhova's mother told Idel Realiy reporters.

In the colony, Miftakhov was serving a criminal sentence under articles covering "hooliganism." According to investigators, he was among those who broke the window of the Edinaya Rossiya (United Russia, the largest political party in the country) offices in Moscow. At the same time, the accusation is based on the testimony of a secret witness who recognized Miftakov a year later by his "expressive eyebrows," and Miftakov himself says he was subjected to severe torture by officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.

Miftakhov, recognized as a political prisoner by the Memorial Human Rights Center, was a graduate student at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University and participated in libertarian socio-political movements.

In prison, Miftakhov became an honorary doctoral student at the University of Paris-Saclay and was invited to come to Harvard to continue his research. At the end of May 2023, Azat Miftakhov said that, due to pressure from the security forces, he found himself in the lowest caste of the prison hierarchy, where he was burdened with additional work, and other prisoners treated him with great disdain. To transfer him to this caste, the FSB used intimate photographs against Miftakhov, passing on information to prisoners in the colony where he was serving his sentence.

You Might Also Like

Sudden Death
  • February 18, 2024

Sudden Death

Alexei Navalny’s death was entirely expected, and completely unacceptable.
A Criminal Doll
  • February 12, 2024

A Criminal Doll

An artist was arrested while fleeing to Kazakhstan for the use of prison tattoos in his artwork.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955