On 10 September 2026, Moscow’s Basmanny District Court extended the pre-trial detention of Indigenous rights defenders Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt until 9 December 2026. By that date, the two women will have spent almost a year in detention without a verdict. Their case remains at the investigation stage.

Today, 10 September, a Moscow court reviewed the detention of Indigenous rights defenders Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt and ordered that both women remain in custody for another 2 months and 24 days, until 9 December 2026. The hearing was held behind closed doors. Diplomats, journalists and relatives of Daria and Natalia were allowed to attend the announcement of the decision. Egereva and Leongardt have been held in pre-trial detention since 17 December 2025. They are c

Four human rights organizations have submitted a parallel report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on the situation of women from the Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of Russia. The document was prepared for the 93rd session of the Committee, which will take place in Geneva from 5 to 30 October 2026.

Amnesty International has included the case of Indigenous human rights defender Daria Egereva in a new report to the United Nations on the growing persecution of environmental human rights defenders worldwide. The report, “Environmental human rights defenders: Vital voices face attacks and lack protection,” was published in August 2026 as Amnesty International’s submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment. For Daria Egereva, the report

Eight months after their arrest, Indigenous rights defenders Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt remain in a Russian pre-trial detention center, with no trial yet held in their case. Swedish public broadcaster SVT has highlighted their situation and the concerns of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) has joined calls for the immediate release of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt, who have been held in detention in Russia since December 2025.

Support for Indigenous activists and other political prisoners will also be discussed at the third online conference “Everyone for All,” organized by Teplitsa and its partners on September 8–9.

Amnesty International has released a special poster dedicated to Russian human rights defender and representative of the Selkup people Daria Egereva. The material was published on September 1 as part of the organization’s global Write for Rights 2026 campaign.

A new letter from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) raises serious concerns about the use of anti-extremism legislation against human rights defenders and civil society representatives working on Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Russia. Although the Committee does not mention Daria Egereva or Natalia Leongardt by name, its concerns are directly relevant to the circumstances of their prosecution.

Russian human rights defender, Indigenous rights activist and environmental advocate Daria Egereva has been nominated for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Her nomination was submitted in January by former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples S. James Anaya and Øyvind Ravna, Professor at UiT — The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.

The German publication Berliner Gazette has published an analytical article by Regzena Erdyneeva on repression against Indigenous Peoples and their human rights defenders in Russia. The editors of daria-egereva.org present a review of the article.

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

An English-language Wikipedia article dedicated to the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) now includes a separate section on Daria Egereva, the Forum’s co-chair, a member of the Selkup people and an Indigenous rights defender currently detained in Russia.

German investigative outlet CORRECTIV has published an investigation into the growing repression of Indigenous rights activists in Russia, focusing on the cases of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt and the criminalization of the “Aborigen Forum.”

Today, Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt remain behind bars — people who spent years defending the interests of Indigenous communities and working for their future. Instead of recognition for this work, they are being held in pre-trial detention, accused of “participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.” They face between 10 and 20 years in prison.

9 August — The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This edition of the Bulletin contains a selection of articles on the struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples living in Russia

A day for all indigenous peoples: their languages, their lands, their knowledge, their right to decide their own destiny. Daria Egereva and Natalia Leonhardt should be celebrating it with their communities. Instead, they are in custody for their work, which has always been peaceful.

On August 5, the Moscow City Court dismissed the appeals against the Basmanny District Court's ruling extending the pre-trial detention of Indigenous rights defenders Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt. As a result, they will remain in custody until at least September 15, 2026.

For more than seven months, Indigenous leaders, human rights defenders, environmental activists, and allies around the world have been speaking out in support of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt.

According to the human rights organization OWD-Info, more than 2,100 people are currently detained in Russia for political reasons. Among them are many members of minority groups and Indigenous Peoples. Daria Egereva belongs to the Selkup people, one of Russia’s smallest Indigenous Peoples with a population of around 3,500.