Indigenous peoples around the world are expressing their solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of Russia in their struggle for their rights.

Against the backdrop of the opening of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April 21, the issue of persecution of Indigenous rights defenders from Russia is gaining a new level of international attention. This year, activist Daria Egereva, a representative of the Selkup people of Siberia, was expected to participate in the forum—but instead of New York, she remains in pre-trial detention. Alongside her, human rights advocate Natalia Leongardt is also bei

Daria Egereva was supposed to be in New York next week. The Indigenous Selkup climate advocate was expected to return to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, where two years ago she spoke about how Indigenous peoples are confronting environmental degradation and climate change. Instead, this year she is in a Russian jail, facing up to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.

The Moscow City Court has scheduled a hearing to consider appeals against the extension of pre-trial detention for Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt.

UN Special Rapporteurs on Thursday condemned an ongoing strategy by Russian authorities to silence dissent, human rights advocacy, and anti-war expression. They warned that this represents a “systematic dismantling” of civil society under the guise of protecting national security and public safety.

A Russian court has remanded a second Indigenous rights defender in custody as part of a widening case linked to the banned activist network known as the ‘Aborigen Forum’. Natalya Leongardt, a 58-year-old specialist on the rights of Indigenous peoples in Russia’s North, Siberia and Far East, was detained on Dec. 17, 2025, and ordered into pre-trial detention the following day by Moscow’s Basmanny District Court, according to rights organizations and media reports.

It has now become known that Daria Egereva is not the only woman held in pre-trial detention following the large-scale raids and arrests carried out on 17 December 2025. Alongside her remains another activist — Natalia Leongardt.

We invite all Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, NGOs, and allies across civil society to sign this petition calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt, who are arbitrarily detained for their peaceful, lawful engagement in Indigenous rights and international advocacy.

United Nations Special Rapporteurs have issued a strong condemnation of what they describe as an escalating and deliberate campaign by Russian authorities to silence dissent, criminalise anti-war expression, and dismantle independent civil society, under the pretext of safeguarding national security.

Natalia Leongardt is a human rights advocate and specialist in the protection of the rights of Indigenous small-numbered peoples. She was detained in the same criminal case as Daria Egereva.

The international organization Amnesty International has called on the Russian authorities to immediately release Indigenous representative Daria Egereva and to drop all criminal charges against her, launching a global letter-writing campaign addressed to the country’s leadership.