Since a Russian court in January sent his older brother, environmental activist Fail Alsynov, to prison for four years, Idel says he has lived in "fear of the unknown".

Fail's sentencing in the central Bashkortostan republic triggered some of the largest protests Russia has seen since sending troops into Ukraine, with thousands braving sub-zero temperatures and a brutal police response to voice their anger.

He was jailed for "inciting hatred" in a speech against mining, but many saw it as retribution for irking powerful local leaders.

In the months since, Bashkortostan has cracked down hard on those who were arrested for the rallies.

"You look into the future and nothing is clear," Idel Alsynov, 30, told AFP during an interview at the end of April, via an encrypted messaging app.

The protests shocked observers, coming as President Vladimir Putin was running for another Kremlin term in a vote meant to symbolise unity behind the Ukraine offensive.

Moscow has effectively outlawed dissent and protest under strict anti-demonstration and military censorship laws.

Bashkortostan, which has a large Turkic-speaking Bashkir minority, has sent a disproportionately high number of men to fight in Ukraine, multiple independent studies have shown.

In some opposition circles, the demonstrations were portrayed as the........

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