A Family Member Has Been Arrested or Convicted in Russia: What Relatives Abroad Should Know

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Receiving the news that a close friend or family member has been arrested, prosecuted, or sentenced in Russia can leave a family uncertain about what to do next - all the more so when you are living thousands of kilometres from Russia, cannot communicate confidently in Russian, and have access to only limited information. The Russian legal system in criminal cases is not always easy to understand even for local residents; for people trying to help from another country, the distance, language difficulties, and unfamiliar legal rules make the situation considerably more complicated. This practical guide, prepared by the criminal law team of Yalanzhi & Partners in Moscow, describes what can be expected at the principal stages of a Russian criminal case, what time limits families need to know, which mistakes can seriously damage the defence, and what steps can still be taken in practice - including when a conviction has already been handed down.

Begin by establishing the facts

Before deciding what legal steps to take, the family needs reliable information about the case: where the person is being held, which investigative body is handling the case, what offence is alleged, whether the person has been formally charged, whether the court has imposed detention as a preventive measure, and whether legal counsel has already entered the case. For foreign citizens, several further matters must be established around interpretation, consular access, and communication with relatives. The earlier an experienced independent defence lawyer reviews the situation, the more opportunities there generally are to influence the course of the case. Work done while the case is still under investigation - raising objections, challenging evidence, and documenting mitigating circumstances - can later form the basis of an effective appeal. This is what defence during the investigation is really about: addressing the current case while ensuring that important defence arguments are preserved for the future.

Criminal charges commonly faced by foreign nationals

From our experience with criminal cases involving foreign nationals, foreign citizens in Russia are most frequently prosecuted under a relatively consistent group of articles of the Russian Criminal Code. These include Article 228 and Article 228.1 (offences involving possession and trafficking of narcotic substances), Article 229.1 (drug smuggling, which frequently arises in airport-related cases), Article 159 (fraud-related offences), Articles 111 and 112 (intentional infliction of bodily injury), Articles 131 and 132 (sexual offences), Article 105 (homicide), and Article 322 (unlawful crossing of the state border). The evidentiary issues and relevant appellate decisions vary considerably from one category to another, which must be taken into account when developing the defence. Our approach to defending these types of cases is described here: defence against criminal charges.

First-instance proceedings: building the foundation for appeal

Acquittals in Russian trial courts are statistically rare - a fraction of one percent. Families should view this not as a reason to give up, but as a reason to approach the case realistically: in the Russian system, a significant part of the legal battle may continue before appellate and cassation courts. And those courts rely heavily on the written case record. If important mitigating factors were not formally recorded, if the defence failed to challenge whether crucial evidence was admissible, if the defence position on legal classification was never stated - it can become significantly more difficult to rely on those arguments later. A properly structured defence at trial therefore serves two purposes simultaneously: the verdict today and the appeal tomorrow.

Post-conviction review: important deadlines and stages

A conviction does not mean that every legal remedy has been exhausted. Russian law sets out a multi-stage process for challenging criminal judgments. An appellate appeal is subject to a 15-day filing period following the judgment under Article 389.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure; for a defendant in custody, the period is calculated from the date on which the judgment is formally delivered to them. It is also important to understand that, on an appeal brought solely by the defence, the court is prohibited from making the convicted person's legal position worse - Russian procedural law contains protection against such deterioration - so the family risks nothing by appealing. Once the judgment enters into force, a cassation appeal becomes another available mechanism of review: the first cassation procedure must be requested within 6 months, while subsequent review proceedings - including a petition to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation - is not subject to a strict time limit when the application seeks an improvement in the convicted person's legal position. Convictions in Russia are modified and overturned years after they enter into force when the defence demonstrates a significant legal violation. A procedural deadline that has already expired, if there were valid grounds for the delay, can also be restored by the court.

How our lawyers assess a case before you pay anything

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Our post-conviction work starts with one essential step: with a careful review of the documents, not assurances about the outcome. We begin by requesting the court judgment and, if higher courts have already considered the case, the subsequent appeal and cassation rulings - scans or clear photos are sufficient. The text is transferred into a searchable format and checked against our internal database of 136,000 Russian criminal cases in which sentences were modified, reduced, or overturned, indexed by charge, factual pattern, type of violation, region, and court level. Our lawyers then study the comparable decisions and determine whether established judicial practice realistically supports a challenge. This initial case assessment is conducted at no cost, and in the majority of cases - roughly eight out of ten our initial conclusion is that the prospects for further review are poor - the judgment is not affected by a material legal defect, or the practice is inconsistent. Families abroad are especially vulnerable to people selling hope; we would prefer not to take a case than encourage unrealistic expectations. When the review identifies a viable basis for further proceedings, the client is told before retaining us which relevant court rulings form the basis of the proposed defence strategy.

Parole and sentence commutation while serving a sentence

For those who are already serving their sentence in a correctional facility, the law provides two important routes that may become available: conditional early release (parole, Article 79 of the Criminal Code) and replacement of the remaining sentence with a milder punishment under Article 80, which may include a move to a less restrictive form of punishment. The point at which a person becomes eligible depends on the category of the offence and how much of the sentence has already been served; preparation - conduct records, employment, restitution, family circumstances - matters enormously and should start early. Further guidance on these options can be found here: parole and sentence commutation.

How we work with families abroad without requiring them to travel

Our practice is designed to work effectively with clients and families overseas: documents are shared securely in electronic form, and representation before regional appellate and cassation courts can be coordinated using court videoconferencing - a standard, legally recognised procedure. When a case proceeds to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, our lawyers are present in person: the Court sits in Moscow, where our firm is based. Where physical representation before a regional court is necessary or preferred, we arrange assistance from vetted lawyers in the relevant region while our team remains responsible for the legal strategy and drafting. Equally importantly, you will actually understand what is happening. We communicate with families in a language they understand, and our updates explain developments in clear language rather than dense legal terminology: what has been submitted, what the court has ruled, what the next procedural step will be and when it is expected to happen. A translated pile of procedural terminology is not information; a clear explanation is. For families monitoring proceedings from abroad, that difference is half the service.

A note of caution

Be particularly cautious with anyone who guarantees a result, claims to have “connections”, or pushes you to transfer money quickly and keep the arrangement secret. No lawyer can lawfully promise a particular decision from an independent court, and agreeing to pay for alleged influence over a court or official can expose those involved to additional legal consequences. A professional defence lawyer provides legal analysis, a reasoned strategy, and documented professional work - and should be able to explain clearly which legal issues have been identified and which lawyer will be responsible for the matter.

Begin with the documents

If a family member has been taken into custody, charged with an offence, or sentenced in Russia, do not wait until you have collected the entire case file. Send whatever court documents you have - the judgment itself is often enough to begin identifying the main legal issues - for a preliminary confidential assessment without charge at lawyersinrussia.com. In some cases the review identifies substantial grounds for further action; in others, the responsible conclusion is that the available options are limited. Either way, what your family needs at the beginning is not reassurance without evidence. It is a precise understanding of the case and the options that may remain.

Author: Grigoriy Nosov, Head of the Criminal Practice at Yalanzhi & Partners