A Russian anti-war activist sentenced to prison in her home country has been held in custody in Armenia for more than a month following an extradition request from Moscow, media reported on Wednesday.
Lilya Manyukhina, 29, and two fellow activists were convicted in 2023 on charges of aggravated robbery after an incident the previous year in Moscow, where they allegedly stole a pistol from a stranger who confronted them as they put up anti-war posters.
Manyukhina and another activist left Russia in 2024. She relocated to Armenia after serving part of her two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
According to the Armenian news outlet CivilNet, Manyukhina was detained in the South Caucasus country on Aug. 30 following an extradition request from Russia.
Armenian courts reportedly ordered Manyukhina’s detention for 40 days, then extended it by two months at the request of the justice ministry.
Manyukhina’s lawyer argued that the charges in Russia are politically motivated and that extradition would expose her to an unfair trial and possibly torture. Armenian human rights groups have called on authorities to reconsider Yerevan’s legal obligations to Russia given its record on human rights violations and expulsion from the Council of Europe.
Manyukhina is said to be awaiting a decision on her political asylum application in Armenia.
Armenian authorities have reportedly rejected at least seven Russian extradition requests on political grounds in recent months.
Manyukhina and fellow activists Kirill Timofeyev and Anastasia Polyakova were first arrested in Moscow in April 2022.
A Moscow court last October sentenced Polyakova to 6 years in prison on charges of robbery or extortion of weapons. The Moscow City Court reduced it to a five-year suspended sentence in May 2025.
Russia’s human rights group Memorial recognized all three activists as political prisoners.
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