Alexei Gorinov: A Voice Against the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Alexei Gorinov is a Russian lawyer, political opposition leader, and advocate for democracy. He is serving out the second year of a ten-year prison sentence.
Alexei has long been a member of the Solidarnost party, which seeks to provide a liberal democratic alternative to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian rule. He has served on the Deputy Council of the Krasnoselsky Municipal District in Moscow since 2017.
Immediately following the start of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin ratified legislation that allowed for prison sentences of up to 15 years for criticism of the “military operation.” Yet Alexei spoke out against the war at a district council meeting on March 17. He stated, “I believe all efforts of [Russian] civil society should be aimed only at stopping the war and withdrawing Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.” He further urged his fellow council members to consider the Ukrainian children who had died in the conflict, rather than deliberating on the planned agenda regarding upcoming celebrations for Children’s Day. In doing so, he openly acknowledged and condemned the brutality of the war.
In April 2022, Alexei became the first person to be charged with spreading information about the war in Ukraine under the new legislation. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
In November 2024, a military court found Alexei guilty of “justifying terrorism,” a new conviction that added three years to his prison sentence. The court argued that Alexei had been caught expressing sympathy for “terrorism” while conversing with other inmates in the penal colony. As a result, he was moved from a medium security penal colony to a maximum security one. Alexei maintains his innocence, arguing that the court lacked evidence for this conviction.
In March 2025, Alexei was labelled a terrorist and extremist by the Rosfinmonitoring, a government agency tasked with keeping tabs on political dissidents. In response, he claimed that the real terrorists were the ones perpetuating the war on Ukraine.
Alexei was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but his medical care has been delayed and inadequate. While fighting this illness, he has been held in solitary confinement, and in some instances, guards have even taken away his medication.
The McCain Institute is working to free Alexei before it is too late. Alexei was the first person to be arrested under the new censorship law, but he is one of many in Russia who have been imprisoned for exercising their right to free speech. The McCain Institute is advocating for the release of unjustly detained individuals like Alexei Gorinov and standing against the oppressive Russian regime.
This report was drafted and prepared by Junior Fellow Ariane Gottlieb from publicly available sources and reviewed by the FPPI and Global Democracy Director Pedro Pizano and Global Democracy Sr. Director Laura Thornton. It was approved by Alexei’s adv