Evidence

Multiple outlets (Kyiv Independent, Ukrainska Pravda, Yahoo News, RT, Bishkek's open.kg) confirm Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did make a statement in late September 2025/2026 saying Russia 'categorically denies the existence of any political prisoners,' in the context of discussing a possible prisoner swap tied to US sanctions relief. However, independent human rights monitors directly contradict this claim: the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Defence Centre (continuing the work of the officially dissolved Memorial Human Rights Center) and OVD-Info maintain detailed, continuously updated lists of political prisoners in Russia, with RFE/RL reporting Memorial documented at least 410 political prisoners in one recent update, and separate reporting noting the list has grown further amid wartime repression. These lists include dissidents, anti-war protesters, journalists, and religious minorities imprisoned on charges widely viewed as politically motivated by international human rights bodies and the Council of Europe. I did not find a published fact-check specifically adjudicating this exact Peskov quote from Reuters Fact Check, AFP Fact Check, Bellingcat, or EUvsDisinfo, though EUvsDisinfo and various human rights organizations have extensively documented and refuted Kremlin denials of political persecution in prior contexts.