On Thursday, Mikhail Lobanov — a leftist politician, trade union activist, and prominent critic of Vladimir Putin’s militarism — was arrested in Moscow. Police officers broke into the apartment of Mikhail and his wife, the sociologist Alexandra Zapolskaya, smashing through the door. During the search, Mikhail was beaten, and photos of him with his blood on the floor were shared across social media. On the same day, a trial was held: Mikhail was sentenced to fifteen days in jail for “disobedience toward police.”

Also on Thursday, the homes of several other activists in different cities around the country were raided. In Moscow, police broke into the home of the eighty-eight-year-old mother of Sergei Tsukasov, another left-wing democratic politician and former municipal deputy who is now out of the country. Like Lobanov, Tsukasov has many supporters in Moscow because of his years of grassroots work with communities in the city.

There is a danger that the detention of Mikhail Lobanov will last more than fifteen days. This summer, he already spent a similar period in jail for “discrediting the army” and “inciting hatred” against the government. He had written of the class basis of Putin’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine, which is taking the poorest segments of the population to war. He received another administrative penalty for displaying a banner “No to War” on his balcony.