therecord.media
Russia · therecord.media
01Overview
Quick Facts
CountryRussia
Age / Sexmale
Statusunknown
Country contextRussia
1,633documented cases in Russia
501 urgent · 133 report torture
Most common grounds
Journalism
144
Arts and culture
1
Unknown
2
Ethnic
33
Content advisory.This case includes reports of torture or ill-treatment. The descriptions may be distressing.
Reports of Torture or Ill-treatment.
Reported to have been subjected to physical abuse or severe ill-treatment in detention, according to available sources. Such treatment, where established, violates international law.
Case Summary
Kirill Parubets, a Russian programmer, was detained by Russian authorities on accusations of sending money to Ukraine. During his more than two weeks in custody, he and his spouse were reported beaten by police, and he was pressured to act as an informant under the threat of life imprisonment.
Following his release, digital forensic researchers from The Citizen Lab discovered that his phone had been infected with spyware via a trojanized version of the 'Cube Call Recorder' app. This spyware, similar to the Monokle family, allowed authorities to track his location, read encrypted messages, and record calls and keystrokes. Due to the surveillance and threats, Parubets is currently living in exile.
May contain extraction or translation errors.
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02Legal framework
How to read this section
This is a plain reading of published international standards against the facts recorded on this page. It is not a finding. No court, treaty body or UN special procedure has ruled on this case, and The Detained makes no assessment of guilt, innocence or state responsibility. Each entry below appears because a specific field on this record brings the standard into play, and says which field that was.
Standards engaged
02- 01Liberty and security of personICCPR, Article 9
Nobody may be deprived of liberty except on grounds and by procedures established by law. Anyone detained is entitled to have a court decide the lawfulness of the detention without delay, and to compensation if the detention was unlawful.
In this case: This record documents a deprivation of liberty.
Treaty text - 02Freedom from torture and ill-treatmentICCPR and CAT, ICCPR article 7; CAT articles 2, 12, 13 and 15
The prohibition is absolute and no circumstance whatever may be invoked to justify it. Where there are reasonable grounds to believe torture has occurred, the state must carry out a prompt and impartial investigation on its own initiative, and any statement established to have been obtained by torture may not be used as evidence in any proceedings.
In this case: Torture or ill-treatment is reported in this case. The report has not been adjudicated by any court or treaty body.
Treaty text
Where a case like this is filed
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary DetentionRoute open
Individual complaint asking the Working Group to find the detention arbitrary and to name a remedy.
Open for every state. Domestic remedies do not have to be exhausted first, and the person’s consent or that of their family is normally required.
How to submit - UN special proceduresRoute open
An urgent appeal or allegation letter to the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation.
Mandate holders can write to a government within days, which is why this is the fastest route on the list.
How to submit - UN Human Rights CommitteeRoute open
Individual communication under the First Optional Protocol, alleging breaches of the Covenant articles listed above.
Domestic remedies must be exhausted, or shown to be unavailable or ineffective in practice.
How to submit - UN Committee against TortureRoute open
Individual complaint under article 22 of the Convention against Torture.
This state has made the article 22 declaration, so the Committee can receive individual complaints.
How to submit - European Court of Human RightsNot determinable from this file
Application after domestic remedies are exhausted, within the four month time limit.
No arrest, trial or verdict date is recorded in this case. The Court remains competent only for acts up to 16 September 2022, so whether this case falls inside that window cannot be answered from the record as it stands.
How to submit
Filing on someone else's behalf can carry real consequences for them and for their family. The people closest to a case should decide whether it is submitted, and a lawyer or an experienced organisation should draft it.
03Analysis
AI-assisted analysis — read first
Every model behind the scores on this page was built and trained in-house, on our own case documentation — nothing is delegated to a black box. We work glass-box: each score opens to show the exact factors that moved it (the "Why this score?" panels), and the full training and calibration methodology is public.
Models miss nuance. Scores, predictions, and summaries on this page are produced by statistical and language models from the documents we have collected. They can be incomplete or wrong, and they cannot capture the legal nuance of an individual case — sentencing above all, where outcomes turn on circumstances no model sees.
Not for court. Do not cite these figures directly in court or in legal proceedings. They are research aids, not evidence and not legal advice. Verify every detail against the original sources listed on this page before relying on it.
Not a verdict. Our findings describe patterns in the data we have documented. They are not a determination that any individual case is unjust — that judgment belongs to the people involved, their families, and competent courts and tribunals.
Reported basis of the case
Reported basis of the caseSpyware/Device Forensics
Means reportedCube Call Recorder
05Sources
Data Source
Designation
Known from reporting. Assessed by The Detained against the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoner.
How designations workSource vs. TD analysis
therecord.mediaCase facts, charges, dates, and status.
TD analysisRisk, surveillance & sentence estimates — probabilistic, not the source's reporting.
View all data sources →Cite this case
The Detained. (2026). Case file: Kirill Parubets (TD case cmpg0urv, record version 2026-08-16). Retrieved November 12, 2026, from https://thedetained.org/prisoners/kirill-parubets-cmpg0urvy0005jl049vcfeex5. Designation: Reported in journalism; assessed by The Detained against the Guidelines on the Definition of Political Prisoner. Original data from therecord.media (https://therecord.media/russian-authorities-infected-detainee-phone-with-spyware).
Formats reflect this case as an online database record. Always verify the original source before citing in legal filings.