YURY DMITRIEV is already at the Serbsky Centre in Moscow. Several people, including his son, have been quick to take him a food parcel there — good for him and his morale, and helpful in making friends inside.

Photojournalist Victoria Ivleva took a lemon, mandarins, butter, toilet paper, cigarettes, cheese, sugar, speck (fatback), biscuits, salami and sweets.

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Some were worried that letters sent to Petrozavodsk or cards (one from Botswana in southern Africa!) would not now reach Yury Alexeyevich. His daughter Katerina Klodt put their minds at rest.

Yesterday, she went to Detention Centre No 1 in Petrozavodsk where her father spent the last year and was given a bag full of undelivered mail. When she got home, she promptly took a photo and posted it online …