PRESS RELEASE
April 24, 2026
Denunciation of the Illegal Detention of Russian Indigenous Leaders Ms. Daria Egereva and Ms. Natalia Leongardt
QUEBEC CITY, APRIL 24, 2026 – A group of international researchers, members of the WAGE Circumpolar Partnership, has recently transmitted a Declaration to the Russian Embassy for onward transmission to Mr. Igor Viktorovich Krasnov, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation's Prosecutor General's Office, and to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, to express their concern over and condemnation of the detention of Ms. Daria Egereva, Indigenous Selkup activist and climate advocate, and Ms. Natalia Leongardt, Indigenous Peoples' rights defender. Ms. Egereva and Ms. Leongardt have been accused of 'terrorism' and have been incarcerated since then, pending trial.
The group denounces these arrests as arbitrary and unsubstantiated. Neither Ms. Egereva nor Ms. Leongardt has ever promoted the use of violence or the threat of violence against the Russian state, nor have they supported separation from the Russian Federation. On these grounds, the group calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
The group further expresses its condemnation of the targeting of 17 Indigenous activists across Russia, who were subjected to undue searches and confiscation of equipment on 17 December 2025. Some of these individuals, including Ms. Egereva, have worked at the international level to improve the lives of the Indigenous peoples of which they are members, as well as to advance the rights and well-being of Indigenous peoples across the globe. For this, they are to be supported, not persecuted. The group urges the Russian Federation to respect both international norms and its own domestic laws regarding Indigenous rights, and to defend and champion those Russian citizens who work tirelessly for these rights at home and abroad.
The WAGE Circumpolar Partnership, based in Université Laval, Quebec City, involves academics and members of Indigenous and governmental organizations from around the Circumpolar North, who are responding to calls from the Arctic Council and other organizations to address inequalities, particularly those affecting Indigenous Peoples across the North (https://www.wage.ulaval.ca/).
Find the full Declaration signed by MarieKathrine Poppel, PhD, Co-Chair of the WAGE Circumpolar Partnership and Professor Emerita at Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, Gérard Duhaime, PhD, Co-Chair of the WAGE Circumpolar Partnership and Professor of Sociology and Holder of the Chaire Louis-Edmond-Hamelin at Université Laval, Canada, and 22 co-signatories here: WAGE Declaration of Concern re Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt.
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