On December 17, 2025, Russia launched a large-scale operation against independent representatives of Indigenous Peoples. Searches and interrogations were carried out against at least 17 activists in ten regions. Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt were detained. Seven months later, their case had become one of the most prominent international cases involving the persecution of Indigenous human rights defenders — and a symbol of what can happen to those who speak about Indigen