An honest journalist has been arrested by the Israeli forces of oppression
By the Internationalist Socialist League (RCIT Section in Israel / Occupied Palestine), 17.08.2026
Artem Ivanovich Kirpichenok arrived in Tel Aviv on August 2 and – somehow – ended up in prison. What we know is that he was arrested by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret police. There has been no contact with him since. There has been no official reason for his detention. A historian and writer have now disappeared into the Israeli prison system.
Artem was born and lived in St. Petersburg (Russia), although he lived in Israel for fifteen years and graduated from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). He later took a PhD in History from the Department of Slavic Studies at the Center for Arab-Eurasian Studies. Working as a journalist, Artem wrote for TRT Russian (Turkey) and Caliber (Azerbaijan), where he reported on the Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and on the Israeli war on Gaza. In 2018, Artem travelled to Iran, where he visited several cities and wrote about them on his personal blog. This writing, which was critical of the war crimes of the Zionist state, most likely is the reason for his arrest and disappearance.
It is impossible for any honest person not to have a view on Israeli government policy these days, but Artem’s views are not so different than those held by the mainstream Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
To arrest Artem is to make individuals afraid to criticize the war crimes of the Israeli state to shut up and sit quietly in the corner. In the past, one could be somewhat safe from arbitrary arrest. It was felt that if you did not cross certain well understood lines, you could write, read, and speak about pretty much anything. Don’t join a party, don’t donate to certain organizations, don’t say certain things. But the lines that seemed to exist have now been erased and what you whisper in your kitchen can now get you into a prison cell.
When Artem was arrested, his old blog opponents said, what did he expect, going to Israel, when he could have sat quietly in Petersburg and minded his own business. Sorry. That’s just the attitude of the partners to the Zionists crimes. Anyone at all can be picked up and tossed into the darkness of the Zionists prisons.
The ISL section of the RCIT in Israel is calling on all honest and brave organizations and individuals to raise their voice and in addition to articles to write to the Justice department of Israel: Mojantiracism@justice.gov.il
Those who want to inform us of their support for the petition are welcome as well.
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT
We / I the undersigned demand the immediate release of Artem Ivanovich Kirpichenok, who was arrested by the Shin Bieth for his writings as a journalist.
Artem Ivanovich Kirpichenok arrived in Tel Aviv on August 2 – and somehow – ended up in prison. What we know is that he was arrested by the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret police. There has been no contact with him since. There has been no official reason for his detention. A historian and writer has now disappeared into the Israeli prison system.
Artem was born and lived in St. Petersburg (Russia), although he lived in Israel for fifteen years and graduated from the Hebrew University (Jerusalem). He later took a PhD in History from the Department of Slavic Studies at the Center for Arab-Eurasian Studies. Working as a journalist, Artem wrote for TRT Russian (Turkey) and Caliber (Azerbaijan), where he reported on the Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and on the Israeli war on Gaza. In 2018, Artem travelled to Iran, where he visited several cities and wrote about them on his personal blog. This writing, which was critical of the war crimes of the Zionist state most likely is the reason for his arrest and disappearance.
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