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Russia Used Israeli Tech in Case Against Activist, Report Says

News.Bloomberglaw • June 25, 2026

Russian authorities used technology manufactured by Israeli digital forensics company Cellebrite to aid the prosecution of a prominent pro-democracy activist, according to a new report.

Andrey Pivovarov, a former director of the advocacy group Open Russia, was detained by Russian security officials at the St. Petersburg airport in 2021 and subsequently sentenced to four years in prison on charges of working with an “undesirable” organization.

According to a report published Thursday by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog group, Russian authorities used Cellebrite technology to access Pivovarov’s iPhone 12. They gathered extensive information from the device, including ...

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Cellebrite Tools Used by Russia to Hack Political Activist's Phone Despite Contract Cancellation Russian authorities used Cellebrite's forensic tools to access the iPhone of political activist Andrey Pivovarov in June 2021, despite Cellebrite's announcement in March 2021 that it would cease sales to Russia. The Citizen Lab confirmed that the tools were employed while Pivovarov was in custody, raising questions about the effectiveness of export controls and corporate accountability in the surveillance technology sector. The data extracted from Pivovarov's device included personal messages and contacts, which were reportedly used to build a criminal case against him. This incident highlights the challenges in controlling the use of surveillance technology once it has been sold to state actors. Pivovarov was detained in May 2021, sentenced to four years in prison, and released in August 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange. The findings have prompted calls for better oversight of technology exports to authoritarian regimes. 22 sources 74

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