Inclined to solitude: Psychiatrists from Yakutsk have declared shaman Gabyshev a social danger.
The examination report shows that Alexander Gabyshev’s danger lies in his tendency to solitude and “hereditary mental disorders,” he said. NotMoscow shaman's lawyer Alexey Pryanishnikov.
"The most idiotic thing that struck me was the hereditary aspect—Gabyshev's mother's brother had a traumatic brain injury, which left him with a mental disorder," explains Pryanishnikov. "How can a traumatic brain injury influence heredity? Doctors insist that Gabyshev is delusional in the medical sense, but they themselves suffer from severe delusions."
Pryanishnikov notes that in Yakutsk The shaman's condition worsened due to treatment with psychotropic drugs—in the photographs sent to the lawyer, Gabyshev is exhausted and has lost a significant amount of weight. This is also emphasized by everyone who has seen the shaman recently.
"He, of course, never complains about anything, because that's the kind of person he is," says Pryanishnikov. "He's been in and out of various psychiatric hospitals for five and a half years now, including the most severe ones. Yet, he's always consistent in his feedback—the most he'll say is that his throat is sore."
The lawyer notes that it is impossible to assess the shaman's condition without an examination. The defense's immediate plan is to have a review of the psychiatrists' latest report, which will be presented in court by an invited expert. In that case, the prosecution will be forced to include this review in the case file.
"Yakut psychiatrists are turning a blind eye to five years of continuous treatment in other hospitals. And thus, they're calling into question the very effectiveness of forced treatment," Pryanishnikov believes. "For five years, the man's condition has been the same—his condition is stable, there's no need for continued treatment in such a harsh manner, the social danger has been eliminated. Then, in September 2025, he arrives in Yakutsk, and by December, he receives a conclusion that his condition has worsened, is unstable, and poses a danger to society."
Alexander Gabyshev is a Yakut public figure who gained widespread notoriety in 2019 for his walking tour of Moscow aimed at "ousting Putin." He was arrested three times, between 2019 and 2021, charged with extremism, and forcibly sent to a psychiatric hospital.
On June 25, 2020, the international human rights organization Memorial declared Gabyshev a political prisoner.
Photo: Courtesy of Alexey Pryanishnikov, courtesy of NeMoskva. Taken in May 2026.
