{
  "id": 18371031,
  "title": "Police in St. Petersburg disrupt letter-writing event for political prisoners",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/police-in-st-petersburg-disrupt-letter-writing-event-for-political",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T20:43:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/11/05/police-in-st-petersburg-disrupt-letter-writing-event-for-political-prisoners"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On October 30, the St. Petersburg branch of the Yabloko party organized a letter-writing event in support of political prisoners, without any issues. This event, held on the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression, marked the first such gathering in the city by the activists. The Lyudi i Pisma (People and Letters) project had planned a similar event for political prisoners, also in St. Petersburg, but it was interrupted by police and masked individuals in Nora, a venue in the Kolomna neighborhood. The purpose and reasoning behind the police action remain undisclosed. Russian authorities firmly deny the existence of political prisoners within their country. However, human rights organization Memorial maintains a database of over 5,800 individuals they identify as political prisoners, excluding those persecuted due to religious reasons.",
  "summary": "Police officers and masked people wearing no identifying insignia entered Nora, a venue in St. Petersburg’s Kolomna neighborhood. They disrupted a letter-writing event for political prisoners planned by the Lyudi i Pisma (People and Letters) project, the news outlet Ostorozhno, Peterburg reported.",
  "key_points": [
    "St. Petersburg Yabloko party organized letter-writing event on Oct 30.",
    "Police and masked individuals disrupted Lyudi i Pisma event in Nora.",
    "Russian authorities deny existence of political prisoners."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}