Khristoliub Bozhii Vegan
Khristoliub Bozhii Vegan, born 1983, Voronezh Oblast. Charges: Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Public insult of religious feelings); Article 354.1 part 2, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Second World War (using an official position, by a…); Article 354.1 part 4, Russian Criminal Code (Insulting the memory, symbols, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War (committed by a group of…); “Khristoliub Vegan's case”. Sentence (February 5, 2025): 3 years' imprisonment in an open prison, compulsory psychiatric treatment, ban on publishing posts on the Internet for 4… Status: deceased. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, October 14, 2025.
In brief
Voronezh Oblast · Voronezh · Bloggers · Anti-war cases
Sentence
3 years
imprisonment in an open prison, compulsory psychiatric treatment, ban on publishing posts on the Internet for 4 years
Upheld June 20, 2025
Charges
- Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Public insult of religious feelings
- Article 354.1 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Second World War (using an official position, by a group of individuals, using media or the internet, with fabricating evidence for the prosecution)
- Article 354.1 part 4, Russian Criminal Code — Insulting the memory, symbols, and veterans of the Great Patriotic War (committed by a group of individuals or using mass media or the Internet)
Full wording of the charges
The reason for the charges under paragraphs "c" part 2 and part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code was a video uploaded by Vegan on YouTube, which, according to the investigation, "contains expressions of contemptuous and negative attitude to the actions of the leadership, commanders and soldiers of the Red Army during World War II, namely the distribution of knowingly false information about the activities of the USSR during World War II, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, as well as insulting the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, humiliation of their honour and dignity". VInitially, Vegan spoke about "russist aggression" and stated that "all armies, absolutely, when they participated in large massacres, always [recruited] convicts, people who had been in prisons." The charge under part 1 of article 148 of the Criminal Code is related to the fact that, according to the investigation, "in July and December 2022, the accused, sharing extremist views, in order to insult the religious feelings of believers, 'posted two video files on a video hosting platform containing signs of negative attitude toward the religion of Islam and the religious literature 'Quran.'"
Latest event
April 17, 2026 — imprisonment ends
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, October 14, 2025
Timeline
· Imprisonment ends
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 3 years
· Preventive measure: travel ban (written undertaking)
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Criminal case
Khristoliub Vegan's case
- Case number
- 2-20/2024
Thematic group: Anti-war case
Details and sources
Full summary
YouTube-blogger from Voronezh. A criminal case was opened against him for rehabilitation of Nazism and insulting the feelings of believers because of his videos about Soviet soldiers and condemnation of the Koran. On 23 January 2023, he was detained, after which, in his own words, he spent about 40 days in a pre-trial detention centre and a psychiatric hospital. In March, Vegan was released on his own recognisance. During the search, all equipment was seized from him, which was eventually returned almost in full. On 5 February 2025, Vegan was sentenced to three years in a penal colony. On 13 October 2025, Vegan was detained in Voronezh with an anti-war poster. The next day he was fined 30,000 roubles under the administrative article on discrediting the RF Armed Forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and taken into custody, with a view to later sending him to a penal colony. No later than January 2026, he was transferred to a general regime colony upon the administration's submission. On 17 April 2026, Vegan's father reported that he had died in custody. The father was later told that Vegan had been found hanged in the SHIZO.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 148 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.