Statute · Russia
Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
violence against a representative of authority
The Detained has documented 59 cases in Russia in which this article was charged. 47 ended in a prison sentence, with a median of 4.5 years and the longest at 18 years. Torture or ill-treatment was reported in 4 of them.
Documented cases
59
Prison sentences
47
Median sentence
4.5 years
Longest sentence
18 years
Torture reported
4
Article 318 punishes the use of violence against a representative of authority: up to five years under Part 1, for violence "not dangerous to life or health", and up to ten under Part 2, for violence that is. It is the most common criminal charge brought against protesters in Russia because its threshold is so low: a push, a grabbed sleeve, a thrown plastic bottle, or resisting being dragged to a police van has been charged as violence against an officer.
The documented cases cluster around the protest waves of 2019 and 2021 and the antiwar demonstrations of 2022. Convictions rest on the testimony of the officer concerned, who is both the victim and the main witness, and sentences of two to four years in a colony are typical for Part 1. Where a protest was also classified as a mass riot, Article 212 appears alongside 318 in the same case.
Arrests by year
| 2019 | 2 |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2022 | 16 |
| 2024 | 27 |
| 2025 | 4 |
| 2026 | 1 |
| n/a | 7 · arrest date not published |
Charged together with
- Art. 212 (32)
- Art. 319 (3)
- Art. 321 (3)
- Art. 282.1 (3)
- Art. 205 (2)
- Art. 159 (2)
- Art. 214 (1)
- Art. 222.1 (1)
All documented cases · 59
| Name | Arrested | Sentence | Place of arrest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fatik Akhmetshin Activist | 19 Jan 2026 | 4 years 6 months | Salavat, Bashkortostan |
| Boris Ushakov former coordinator of Gulagu.net, human rights defender | 30 Dec 2025 | no sentence recorded | Engels, Saratov region |
| Munir Isyangildin activist, former leader of 'Bashkort' movement | 23 Dec 2025 | 4 years 2 months | Baymak, Bashkortostan |
| Umutbay Davletberdin | 21 Oct 2025 | 3 years 7 months | Tolyatti, Samara Region |
| Maria Makhmutova blogger | 13 Jun 2025 | 2 years 7 months | Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast |
| Ilyasov Zakij Gabitovich pensioner | 24 Apr 2024 | 3 years | Mahmutovo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Galin Rail Ravilovich Worked at a sawmill | 10 Mar 2024 | 5 years | Baimovo, Bashkortostan |
| Vadim Albertovich Kagarmanov Sawmill worker | 10 Mar 2024 | 4 years | Novousmanovo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Alibekov Ashabali Amirovich Blogger, author of the YouTube channel 'Wild Paratrooper' | 19 Feb 2024 | 2 years | Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai |
| Aygiz Ilgizovich Absalyamov | 16 Feb 2024 | 4 years | Aktashevo village, Gafuriysky district, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Aygiz Shagitovich Ishmurzin singer | 15 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Ufa |
| Aibulat Yanybaevich Nigamatov Machinist at a mining and processing plant | 13 Feb 2024 | 4 years | Buribay, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Aitugan Gareevich Abdullin Technological installation operator, athlete, ecologist | 10 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Sterlitamak, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Vallyam Anvarovich Mutallapov | 9 Feb 2024 | 3 years | |
| Ahatov Ilmir Baizavievich | 9 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Baishevo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Asylguzhin Ilnar Zulfatovich | 8 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Surgut, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug |
| Mahmutov Ilnaz Ilyasovich | 6 Feb 2024 | 3 years | Khaibullinsky district, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Denis Ilgamovich Ikbaev driller's assistant | 5 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Isyangulovo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Aynur Nurgalievich Karimov gas and electric welder | 1 Feb 2024 | 4 years | Krasnousolsky, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Aidar Gizelkhakovich Magadeev worked with lumber | 1 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Meleuz, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Azat Ahatovich Kusarbaev control post operator at a factory | 1 Feb 2024 | 5 years | Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast |
| Ilfat Rafaelovich Ishmuratov furniture assembler, fitter at Gazprom | 30 Jan 2024 | 4 years | Meryasovo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Fidan Gafurovich Ismagilov | 26 Jan 2024 | 6 years | Askarovo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Kitikov Ajtugan Zimfirovich Electric and gas welder, engraver, beekeeper | 24 Jan 2024 | 7 years | Maksyutovo, Sterlibashevsky district, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Khalid Khaydarovich Ishkuvatov | 23 Jan 2024 | 5 years | Stary Sibay, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Ajtugan Muhametovich Malabaev | 23 Jan 2024 | 5 years | |
| Gibadullin Akhat Aksanovich Security guard | 23 Jan 2024 | 5 years | |
| Akhmetshin Fatih Israfilovich | 23 Jan 2024 | 4 years | Turkmenevo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Dim Raisovich Davletkildin Worker | 20 Jan 2024 | 5 years | Ishberda, Bashkortostan |
| Vilyur Zigannurovich Karachurin teacher, farmer | 18 Jan 2024 | 5 years | Baimak, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Dayan Daniyalovich Valeev | 18 Jan 2024 | 5 years | Sibay, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Azat Samatovich Mirzin Builder, Former police and Rosgvardia officer | 18 Jan 2024 | 4 years | Mullakayevo, Bashkortostan Republic |
| Natalia Filonova Retired | 21 Oct 2022 | 2 years | Ulan-Ude, Buryatia |
| Suren Atanasian Entrepreneur | 1 Sept 2022 | no sentence recorded | Moscow, Moscow |
| Isa Abdulaev | 1 Sept 2022 | no sentence recorded | Makhachkala, Dagestan |
| Kemran Agabekov | 1 Sept 2022 | no sentence recorded | Makhachkala, Dagestan |
| Mukhamed-Afandi Asipov Sportsperson | 1 Sept 2022 | 4 years | Makhachkala, Dagestan |
| Roman Baliasin Office worker | 2 Aug 2022 | no sentence recorded | closed city of Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Ahmed Pogorov former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia | 1 Jul 2022 | 9 years | Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol Krai |
| Momagul Alimordonova | 1 Jul 2022 | no sentence recorded | Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast |
| Evgenia Feklistova Teacher | 14 Mar 2022 | 1 year | Moscow, Moscow |
| Zolotaryov Vladimir Georgievich Taxi driver | 12 Mar 2022 | 18 years | Komsomolsk-on-Amur |
| Zakhar Tatuiko Bartender | 4 Mar 2022 | no sentence recorded | Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg |
| Andrey Berezin Entrepreneur | 1 Mar 2022 | 2 years | Astrakhan, Astrakhan Oblast |
| Valery Dubeniuk | 1 Mar 2022 | 1 year | Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg |
| Unknown male 8 Official | 1 Mar 2022 | no sentence recorded | Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast |
| Zarema Abuyazitovna Musaeva | 21 Jan 2022 | 4 years | Nizhny Novgorod |
| Zarema Musaeva | 1 Jan 2022 | 3 years 10 months | |
| Maxim Anatolevich Lavrentiev blogger | 26 Jun 2020 | 9 years | Kemerovo |
| Voronin Andrey Olegovich blogger | 4 Apr 2020 | 10 years | Samara |
| Musa Aslanovich Malsagov Chairman of IKNE, Co-Chairman of the World Congress of the Ingush People, Chairman of the Ingush branch of the Russian Red Cross, former deputy of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia | 3 Apr 2019 | 9 years | Nazran |
| Ahmed Osmanovich Barahoev Pensioner | 3 Apr 2019 | 9 years | New Redant, Ingushetia |
| Aminev Azamat Alfatovich Driller | date unknown | 4 years | Ufa |
| Kulmukhametov Zakir Zakarievich Farmer | date unknown | 4 years | Baishevo, Bashkortostan Republic |
| Akbalin Dinar Danirovich | date unknown | 5 years | Baishevo, Republic of Bashkortostan |
| Kirill Korolev Workers | date unknown | no sentence recorded | Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg |
| Evgeniya Mandrygina journalist | date unknown | no sentence recorded | Krasnoyarsk |
| Alexander Prokopievich Gabyshev Shaman | date unknown | no sentence recorded | Yakutsk, Sakha Republic |
| Ruslan Valiev Schoolers | date unknown | no sentence recorded | Makhachkala, Dagestan |
Questions
- What counts as violence against an officer?
- In the documented cases: pushing, grabbing, throwing a light object, or pulling away during a detention. Injury is not required under Part 1.
- Who testifies?
- Usually the officer named as the victim and colleagues present. Video from the scene, where it exists, has rarely changed the outcome.
How to write to a political prisoner in Russia
How we define a political prisoner
Other statutes in Russia
- Article 207.3 · military "fakes"
- Article 280.3 · "discrediting" the army
- Article 205.2 · justification of terrorism
- Article 275 · high treason
- Article 275.1 · confidential cooperation with a foreign state
- Article 205.5 · participation in a terrorist organization
- Article 282.2 · participation in an extremist organization
- Article 280 · calls to extremism
- Article 354.1 · rehabilitation of Nazism
- Article 205 · terrorist act
- Article 212 · mass riots
- Article 214 · vandalism
Counts are of published records in The Detained’s database for Russia that carry this article, matched after normalizing how sources write it, as of 10 Sept 2026. They are a documented minimum: cases not yet published or not yet linked to the article are not counted. Each row links to the case record and its sources.