Evgeny Alakaev

According to OVD-Info

The resident of Moscow, prior to his arrest he served in the Military Political Directorate of the Central Military District in Ekaterinburg with the rank of major as deputy commander for military and political work of a motorised rifle training battalion. In this position, he was in charge of interaction with cultural organisations.

On 4 October 2023, law enforcers came to Alakaev's flat in Ekaterinburg. They searched the flat and confiscated equipment, notebooks, books and documents as part of the criminal investigation "Inspection of premises, buildings, structures, terrain and vehicles". According to eyewitnesses, the law enforcers beat the officer and took him away. Since then, he has been kept in the military commandant's office in Ekaterinburg in the status of a "secondee" under 24-hour guard of a convoy without charges and without a court decision to take him into custody.

On 8 November 2023, a criminal case on illegal receipt and dissemination of information constituting state secrets was initiated because Alakayev sent his mother and an acquaintance, the priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Konstantin Mironov, a document on the death of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. According to Alakayev, his acquaintance died there and he wanted to share his feelings with his loved ones. On the same day, 8 November, the officer was officially detained. The next day, the court took him into custody.

On 12 March 2024, Alakaev was also accused of treason because of his correspondence with the same priest. The law enforcers claimed that Mironov was cooperating with the SBU and Alakaev was passing him secret information about the course of the war in Ukraine.

The officer initially admitted guilt, but then changed his testimony and began to deny guilt. He insists that the persecution is related to his anti-war stance. Alakaev openly spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine. In his correspondence with the priest, he also criticised the Russian authorities because of the war.

On 24 June 2025, the court sentenced Alakaev to 18 years in prison. He is to spend the first five years in prison and the remaining term in a strict-regime penal colony.

"Memorial" recognised the officer as a political prisoner.