September 5, 2026, 7:45 AMTELEGRAMRSSRU
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Alexander Demidenko

DeceasedChecked against the source: September 5, 2026, 6:09 AM
Criminal Code
Article 222.1 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Region
Belgorod Oblast

Case summary

A resident of the Belgorod region, he volunteered to help Ukrainian refugees cross the border. On October 17, 2023, he stopped communicating. On October 20, police officers brought him home together with representatives from the Zapad-Akhmat Battalion of the Russian Guard formed in Chechnya, where there were bruising marks on his body.

After that, Demidenko was arrested under an administrative article for drinking alcohol for 10 days. The next day, he was released and summoned to the police, and then arrested for another 30 days under Article 6.9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences for evading medical treatment for drug use.

In early November 2023, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against Demidenko for illegal trafficking in explosives. The security forces said that a grenade, a fragmentation grenade fuse, and a mine fuse were found in his house. His wife suggested that he may have found weapons from the Great Patriotic War in the garden. On November 9th, it turned out that Demidenko was sent to custody.

At the end of November, information emerged that a case of treason had also been opened against Demidenko. No official confirmation of this has been given yet.

On April 5, 2024, Demidenko died in prison. The Federal Penitentiary Service said that he committed suicide. His son has not found any confirmation of this.

In September 2024 it became known that representatives of the Zapad-Akhmat Battalion of the Russian Guard seized his car after he was detained in November 2019.

Others charged under Article 222.1 part 1, Russian Criminal Code

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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database

Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.

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