June 17, 2026

Almost Extradited to Russia


Almost Extradited to Russia
Leaving Yerevan? The Russian Life file.

On June 12, at Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport, Armenian authorities detained and then later released a Russian mathematician at the request of Russia. The academic is on Rosfinmonitoring's list of Russians wanted for "terrorism" and "discrediting the army."

Mikhail Verbitsky currently works at the National Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Before leaving Russia in 2015, he worked at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics and taught at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow. His career also includes positions at the University of Glasgow and the Free University of Brussels.

Verbitsky is also known for his blog "Tifaretnik," and for creating an alternative blogging platform, lj.rossia, as an independent alternative to Livejournal. On his website, he describes himself as a "communist," an "anarchist," and a "satanist." In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was affiliated with the National Bolshevik Party.

In 2014, Verbitsky was a defense witness in the state show trial against publicist Boris Stomakhin, who was accused of promoting religious hatred, calling for extremism, and justifying terrorism. Verbitsky's own run-ins with the law began in January 2025, when, according to his wife, Yulia Fridman, authorities opened a case against him for "discrediting the army" and "justifying terrorism" after he publicly questioned the methods used to investigate the March 2024 Crocus City Hall terror attack.

On June 12, Verbitsky was arrested at Zvarnots airport and sent to a Yerevan detention center. According to lawyer Ana Chatinian, of the Yerevan office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly "Vanadzor" (HCAV), if Russia solicited extradition, Verbitsky would remain in Armenian custody for 40 days. Otherwise, he would be released within 72 hours.

On June 13, the head of HCAV, Artur Sakunts, announced that Verbitsky was to be released and would not be extradited to Russia.

 

 

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