Aleksandr Krichevsky is a political prisoner
A disabled system administrator from Izhevsk was sentenced to 5.5 years over a comment. His elderly mother was placed in a care home after his arrest and died there
Aleksandr Krichevsky from Izhevsk worked as a system administrator. As a young man, he suffered a spinal injury that left him with a Category I disability and permanently dependent on a wheelchair. He lived with his elderly mother, who was also unable to walk. Krichevsky cared for her and helped her perform the breathing exercises she needed to stay alive.
On 19 December 2024, Krichevsky was detained and later remanded in custody on charges of public calls for terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code) over a comment he posted in the Telegram channel of an opposition Chechen blogger. He wrote: ‘We have only one enemy — Putin and his FSB clique… Both you and we must destroy this enemy so that we can live as peaceful neighbours in the future.‘
Because of Krichevsky’s arrest, his mother was placed in a care home, where she died a month later from pulmonary oedema. While in pre-trial detention, Krichevsky was also unable to renew his disability status.
In January 2026, Krichevsky was sentenced to 5.5 years in a general-regime penal colony. He pleaded not guilty and told the court that he did not support terrorism and could not have imagined that his words would be interpreted as a call to kill Putin and all FSB officers.
‘I was thinking in terms of games: when someone plays checkers or chess, they eliminate the opponent’s pieces. Roughly speaking, that was the image I had in mind,’ Krichevsky explained.
We believe that the sentence imposed on Krichevsky is not only unlawful but also exceptionally cruel towards a seriously disabled man. Even if one were to assume that his words posed some danger to society, that danger is plainly disproportionate to such a severe punishment.
A detailed description of Aleksandr Krichevsky’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can I help?
You can write to Aleksandr Krichevsky at the following address:
Ru:
620019, г. Екатеринбург, ул. Репина, д. 4, ФКУ СИЗО-1 ГУФСИН России по Свердловской области, Кричевский Александр Анатольевич, 1967 г. р.
En:
Krichevsky Aleksandr Anatolyevich (born 1967), Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Sverdlovsk Oblast, 4 Repina St., Yekaterinburg, 620019, Russia.
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Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.
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