Arrested in Russia: What Families Should Know

When Someone Close to You Is Arrested or Convicted in Russia: A Guide for Overseas Families

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Finding out that a relative has been detained, accused of an offence, or given a prison sentence in Russia can be deeply distressing - particularly when you are living thousands of kilometres from Russia, cannot communicate confidently in Russian, and know only parts of what has happened. The Russian legal system in criminal cases is complex even for people who live in the country; for families outside Russia, the lack of local knowledge, language difficulties, and physical distance create additional practical difficulties. This guide, prepared by the criminal defence team of Yalanzhi & Partners in Moscow, explains what actually happens at the principal stages of a Russian criminal case, which procedural deadlines are critical, what errors should be avoided, and what can realistically be done - including when a conviction has already been handed down.

Begin by establishing the facts

Before any strategy is possible, the family needs reliable information about the case: where exactly the person is detained, which authority is investigating, what criminal offence the person is suspected or accused of committing, whether the person has been formally charged, whether pre-trial detention has been authorised by a court, and whether legal counsel has already entered the case. For foreign citizens, there are additional issues to clarify around access to an interpreter, contact with the relevant consulate, and communication with family members. The earlier an experienced independent defence lawyer reviews the situation, the more opportunities there generally are to influence the course of the case. Work done while the case is still under investigation - raising objections, challenging evidence, and documenting mitigating circumstances - can later form the basis of an effective appeal. This is what defence during the investigation is really about: protecting the person now while building the record for the future.

Charges foreign nationals face most often

In our practice, foreign citizens in Russia are commonly charged under a relatively consistent group of articles of the Russian Criminal Code. These include Article 228 and Article 228.1 (drug possession and trafficking), Article 229.1 (drug smuggling - a common airport scenario), Article 159 (fraud), Articles 111 and 112 (intentional infliction of bodily injury), Articles 131 and 132 (sexual offences), Article 105 (homicide), and Article 322 (illegal border crossing). The evidentiary issues and relevant appellate decisions vary considerably from one category to another, which has a direct impact on how the defence should be structured. Further information about our approach to such cases: defence against criminal charges.

First-instance proceedings: building the foundation for appeal

Russian trial courts return acquittals in only a very small percentage of criminal cases. Families should understand this not as a reason for despair but as a reason to plan realistically: in the Russian system, review proceedings before appellate and cassation courts can become critically important. And those courts primarily examine materials already contained in the case file. If mitigating circumstances were never documented, if the admissibility of key evidence was never challenged, if the defence never formally objected to the legal classification of the alleged conduct - the defence may face serious obstacles when attempting to raise them for the first time on appeal. A properly structured defence at trial therefore serves two purposes simultaneously: working toward the immediate result while building a strong foundation for appellate proceedings.

After conviction: deadlines and available stages of review

A conviction is not the end of the legal road. Russian law establishes a series of procedures through which a conviction may be reviewed. An appellate appeal is subject to a 15-day filing period following the judgment under Article 389.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; for a convicted person who remains in detention, the period is calculated from the date on which the judgment is formally delivered to them. Importantly, on an appeal brought solely by the defence, the court cannot worsen the convicted person's position - Russian procedural law contains protection against such deterioration - so the family risks nothing by appealing. Once the judgment enters into force, a cassation appeal may be pursued: the first, mandatory cassation review must be sought within the six-month statutory period, while subsequent review proceedings - including a petition to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation - is not subject to a strict time limit when the application seeks an improvement in the convicted person's legal position. Convictions in Russia are modified and overturned years after they enter into force when the defence establishes a material breach of criminal or procedural law. A procedural deadline that has already expired, if missed for a legally recognised reason, can also be restored by the court.

Our approach to case assessment before any fees are discussed

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Our representation in cases following conviction begins in the same way in every case: by examining the documents rather than making promises. We ask the client's family to forward the written judgment and, if appeal or cassation proceedings have already occurred, the subsequent appeal and cassation rulings - the documents can be sent as scans or readable photographs. The text is transferred into a searchable format and analysed against our internal database of 136,000 Russian criminal cases in which sentences were modified, reduced, or overturned, indexed by charge, factual pattern, type of violation, region, and court level. Our lawyers then review the matches and assess whether existing judicial practice provides realistic grounds for challenging the judgment. This first-stage review is conducted at no cost, and in the majority of cases - roughly eight out of ten our professional conclusion is that the available grounds are not sufficiently strong - the judgment is not affected by a material legal defect, or the practice is inconsistent. Relatives living abroad are especially exposed to advisers who sell hope rather than legal analysis; we would rather give an unwelcome answer than charge for a challenge we do not believe is properly supported. When grounds do exist, the client is shown before signing an agreement which court decisions will support the defence.

Options during imprisonment: parole and sentence commutation

For those who are already serving their sentence in a correctional facility, the law offers two additional legal mechanisms: conditional early release (parole, Article 79 of the Criminal Code) and replacement of the unserved portion of imprisonment with a milder penalty under Article 80, including, where legally applicable, a less restrictive correctional arrangement. Eligibility is determined by the offence category and the portion of the sentence served; the quality of preparation matters greatly, including records of conduct, work, restitution and family circumstances, so this work should begin early. Details can be found here: parole and sentence commutation.

Remote legal work for families outside Russia

Our practice is structured for remote handling: documents are exchanged electronically, and participation in regional appellate and cassation proceedings can be organised through court video conferencing - a standard, legally recognised procedure. When a case proceeds to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, our lawyers attend in person: the Court is located in Moscow, where our firm is based. Where a client considers personal attendance in a regional court important, we arrange assistance from vetted lawyers in the relevant region while our team remains responsible for the legal strategy and drafting. Just as importantly, you will know what is happening and why. We organise communication so that each family can follow the case in its own language, and our written case updates use straightforward language instead of unnecessary legal jargon: what was filed, what the court has ruled, what the next procedural step will be and when it is expected to happen. A word-for-word translation of legal jargon is not meaningful communication; explaining the situation clearly is. For people trying to manage a relative's case from overseas, that distinction is an essential part of effective legal support.

A word of caution

Be very cautious with anyone who claims that a particular court result is certain, claims to have “special connections”, or demands immediate payment while discouraging you from speaking to anyone else. No lawyer can give a legitimate guarantee of a court's future decision, and payments supposedly intended to influence officials may themselves create criminal-law risks. A professional defence lawyer sells analysis, strategy, and documented work - and should have no difficulty explaining the legal grounds they see and identifying the person who will actually handle the case.

The first practical step: send the documents

If your partner or another person close to you has been arrested or accused of a criminal offence in Russia, or has already been convicted, do not assume that you need every procedural document before obtaining an initial assessment. Send whatever court documents you have - a copy of the judgment alone can already reveal important aspects of the case - for a preliminary confidential assessment without charge at lawyersinrussia.com. Sometimes there are significant grounds for further proceedings; in other cases, an honest assessment shows that few viable options remain. Either way, what your family needs first is not a guarantee. It is a clear and realistic understanding of the legal position.

Author: Grigoriy Nosov, Head of Criminal Practice, Yalanzhi & Partners