Russian security services broke into opposition activist Andrei Pivovarov’s iPhone using Israeli Cellebrite system, Citizen Lab reports
https://theins.press/en/news/294171
Publish Date: 2026-06-26 17:50:00
Source Domain: theins.press
In 2021, Russian security officers gained access to the iPhone of opposition politician and civil society activist Andrei Pivovarov is a Russian opposition politician and civil society activist who formerly led Open Russia, a pro-democracy group linked to exiled oil tycoon, former political prisoner, and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Russian authorities detained Pivovarov in 2021 after removing him from a plane in St. Petersburg, and in 2022 he was sentenced to four years in a penal colony on charges of carrying out the activities of an “undesirable organization,” a Russian designation used to outlaw groups the Kremlin views as a threat. He was released in August 2024 as part of the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.
” tabindex=”0″ role=”button” aria-label=”Andrei Pivovarov”Andrei Pivovarov, the former director of pro-democracy group Open Russia. Russian law enforcement used the Israeli digital forensics tool Cellebrite while the phone was in their custody, according to a new report by the Canadian research group Citizen Lab. Analysts found evidence on the device showing that Cellebrite tools were used around June 17, 2021, after the phone had already been seized by Russian authorities.
Pivovarov was detained May 31, 2021, at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg. Investigators confiscated his iPhone 12 and MacBook. He did not consent to a search of the devices and did not hand over passwords. The devices were returned to his lawyer only in 2023. In July 2022, a court sentenced Pivovarov to four years in a penal colony on a charge of “carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization,” a Russian legal designation used to ban and criminalize work with foreign or foreign-linked groups deemed a threat by the authorities. He was released Aug. 1, 2024, as part of a prisoner exchange.
Citizen Lab’s findings are supported by a document produced by the Russian authorities themselves: expert report…
