Aleksandr Bersenev
Aleksandr Bersenev, Sverdlovsk Oblast. Charges: Article 282.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code (Participation in the activities of an extremist organization); “The case of "Citizens of the USSR" in the Sverdlovsk region”. Sentence (July 4, 2025): 2 years’ imprisonment in a general regime colony. Status: at large.
In brief
Sverdlovsk Oblast · Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil · Extremism cases
Sentence
2 years
imprisonment in a general regime colony
First instance, August 14, 2024: 4 years
Charges
- Article 282.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Participation in the activities of an extremist organization
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, from the summer of 2019 to the spring of 2020, he distributed propaganda materials and organized meetings where he discredited Russian government authorities.
Latest event
March 4, 2026 — imprisonment ends
Timeline
· Imprisonment ends
· Persecution ends
· Appeal ruling
sentence changed · 2 years
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 4 years
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
· Persecution begins
The case of "Citizens of the USSR" in the Sverdlovsk region
Criminal case
The case of "Citizens of the USSR" in the Sverdlovsk region
Other defendants in the case
- Pyotr Afanasenko — Imprisoned, 6 years
- Svetlana Gorina — At large, 6 years
- Nadezhda Dubina — At large, 2 years
- Dmitrii Koval — At large, 2 years
- Valerii Kriukov — At large, 2 years
- Liudmila Larionova — At large, 2 years
- Alexandr Maurin — At large, 2 years
- Aleksei Makhlanov — At large, 2 years
- Oleg Novopashin — At large, 2 years
- Sergei Chibikov — At large, 2 years
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of the Sverdlovsk Region. He was charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization; investigators alleged that he was involved with the "Citizens of the USSR" movement and styled himself as the Deputy Head of the Chelyabinsk Region. Adherents of this movement deny the dissolution of the USSR; however, the extent to which the movement is structured—and the degree of serious danger it poses to Russian society—remains unclear. Bersenev was subject to a written undertaking not to leave his place of residence. On August 14, 2024, he was sentenced to four years in a general-regime penal colony. On July 4, 2025, upon appeal, his sentence was reduced to two years in a general-regime penal colony. He was reportedly released in March 2026.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 282.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.