Armenia refuses to extradite opposition figure to Russia

The Armenian government has rejected a request from Russian law enforcement agencies for the extradition of opposition figure Ilya Danilov, who had fled Russia.

“After a month of forced waiting in Yerevan, the former coordinator of Navalny’s Lipetsk headquarters successfully crossed the Armenian-Georgian border and returned to Tbilisi,” reports the News-Georgia portal.

As the publication notes, Danilov left Russia in 2021 and has resided in Georgia since then, combining journalistic and human rights activities. His troubles began on August 1, 2026, when he attempted to reset his 365-day legal stay limit in Georgia. At an Armenian border checkpoint, it was discovered that Moscow had placed him on the international wanted list “on criminal charges of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and disseminating fake news about the Russian army.” In addition, he has been added to Rosfinmonitoring’s list of terrorists and extremists.

Armenian security forces detained Danilov for several hours before releasing him under a travel restriction, prohibiting him from leaving the country until the legal review of the Russian request was completed.