Russia: Three Poets Jailed for Reading Anti-War Verse Are Prisoners of Conscience

Last updated: 22 September 2026

Amnesty International formally designated three Russian poets — Artyom Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba, and Nikolai Dayneko — as prisoners of conscience on March 20, 2026. The three men were arrested in 2022 after publicly reading their anti-war poetry at a monument in central Moscow and have since been imprisoned under charges that Amnesty says have no legitimate legal basis.

What Happened: Poetry as a Criminal Act

On September 25, 2022, Kamardin, Shtovba, and Dayneko participated in anti-war poetry readings at Vladimir Mayakovsky's monument in Moscow's Mayakovskaya Square. Three days later, all three were detained. They were initially charged with "incitement of hatred and enmity with a threat to use violence" under Article 282(2)(a) of Russia's Criminal Code. The charge was later changed to "incitement of hatred done as an organised group", and in March 2023 additional charges of "public calls to actions directed against state security" were added.

In December 2023, Artyom Kamardin was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and Yegor Shtovba to five and a half years. Nikolai Dayneko, who had entered a guilty plea, received a four-year sentence in a penal colony in May 2023. All sentences were upheld on appeal.

What crime have these men committed? Reading poetry in public cannot threaten national security, nor did their poems express prohibited forms of hatred or contain calls to violence. Their imprisonment is nothing but retaliation for daring to express their views.

Marie Struthers, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, Amnesty International

Torture and Inhumane Treatment

Amnesty International reports that Artyom Kamardin was subjected to torture, including brutal sexualised violence, during his arrest and subsequent search of his flat. Despite documented injuries, he was denied adequate medical care. All three have been held in conditions Amnesty describes as inhuman or degrading.

Amnesty's Demands

Amnesty International is calling on Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kamardin, Shtovba, and Dayneko, and to quash their convictions. The organisation is also demanding that allegations of torture and other ill-treatment be promptly, independently, and effectively investigated. The case reflects a broader pattern of using criminal law to silence anti-war voices in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Source: Amnesty International — Russia: Poets jailed for public reading of their works are prisoners of conscience