In 2024, in Russia, at least 50 people died in police departments, temporary detention facilities, special detention centers, pre-trial detention centers, courts, as well as during arrests, calculated by "Verstka"* based on media reports and government agencies. Deaths were recorded in at least 26 localities, with Moscow leading in the number of deaths — 15 people, five people died in Yakutsk, and two people each in St. Petersburg and Rostov-on-Don. The average age of the deceased was 45 years (the age of eight people was not specified).
At the same time, cases were not considered where detainees or arrestees died from consequences inflicted by the penitentiary system after release. For example, the statistics did not include Minniyar Baiguskarov, who committed suicide after being beaten by police, and Kiril Buzmakov, who died from a disease resulting from torture in a pre-trial detention center.
Among the deceased were 47 men and three women. 20 died in pre-trial detention centers, 10 in police departments, five in temporary detention facilities, another five in hospitals where they were taken from pre-trial detention centers or after arrest, four during attempted arrest, three in law enforcement vehicles, one after being dropped off from a police car without clothes in the cold, one in an ambulance after arrest, and another one in court.
The most common cause of death was "health problems," among which authorities cited heart attacks, epilepsy, pulmonary edema, heart problems, and "chronic diseases." The official cause of death for another eight people was suicide. Six died because they suddenly "felt unwell," and in eight cases the cause of death is unknown.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent."