Alexander Byvshev

He is a resident of the settlement of Kromy, a former schoolteacher and a poet.

In mid-May 2014 a criminal case was initiated against Byvshev on charges of inciting hatred and enmity on national grounds in connection with his posting of the poem, “To Ukrainian Patriots” – which was twice recognised as extremist – on the VKontakte social network. A second criminal case was later reported to have been initiated under the same article in connection with his posting of the poem, “Ukrainian Rebels”.

In July 2015, Byvshev was sentenced in the first case to 300 hours of compulsory labour with a two-year ban on working as a schoolteacher.

In January 2017, a third criminal case was reported to have been initiated against Byvshev under the article on incitement of ethnic hatred – this time for the poem, “On the Independence of Ukraine”. In April 2018, he was sentenced to 330 hours of community work. Later, the court combined the punishments and imposed on Byvshev 400 hours of community work with a deprivation of the right to work at school. However, the court ruled that the period served under the 2015 punishment be counted toward the sentence, thereby reducing the total number of community work hours to 100.

On 18 January 2018, a case was reported to have been initiated against Byvshev for obstruction of justice because he had disclosed the details of the other criminal cases initiated against him to journalists.

In April 2018, a fifth criminal case was initiated for the poems, “The Russian Spirit” and “The Mighty Heap”, with Byvshev again charged with inciting ethnic hatred.

In August 2018, a sixth criminal case was initiated. Byvshev was charged with public calls for extremist activity on the Internet for publishing the poem, “Dedicated to NATO Expansion to the East”. This case and the two previous ones were consolidated into a single proceeding. On 28 February 2019, the proceeding was terminated; however, on 8 April, Byvshev was informed that the investigation had been resumed. On 3 October, the Investigative Committee terminated the proceeding in the case concerning the poem about NATO expansion, and on 5 October, in the case concerning obstruction of justice. The case concerning the poems about the Russian spirit and the mighty heap was referred to the court, which on 29 October terminated it.

On 1 December 2022, Byvshev was arrested for seven days due to a Facebook post in which he used the word “chmobiki” (a pejorative term used to refer to servicemen conscripted to the Russian military). The poet was charged with inciting hatred or enmity towards the Russian army (Article 20.3.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

Subsequently, Byvshev was taken into custody on charges of public justification of terrorism. It was later reported that a criminal case had also been initiated against him for spreading “fakes” about the Russian army. On 19 March 2024, Byvshev was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment in a penal colony. On 27 May, the court of appeals reduced the term by two months. A letter from Byvshev revealed that in November 2023, another case was initiated against him under the article of public justification of terrorism, and in December a new case under the article on “fakes” about the Russian army.