New details emerge in death of preacher Khristolyub Vegan: Found hanged in cell with ‘broken’ CCTV
Khristolyub Vegan, a Voronezh-based pacifist and preacher, was found hanged in a punishment isolation cell (SHIZO), according to the official account provided to his father. The details were shared with SOTAvision following the father’s visit to the penal colony and meetings with investigators on 20 April.
Authorities have opened a criminal investigation into negligence. However, relatives have raised serious concerns, reporting that surveillance cameras within the isolation unit may have been inoperable at the time of the incident. A farewell ceremony and cremation are scheduled to take place today in Voronezh.
The preacher had previously used his videos and personal website to announce plans for a hunger strike to protest his conviction. ‘If the sentence remains in force by the 40th day and I am still in the colony, I will refuse water on the 41st day,’ he wrote. While a post on his Telegram channel on 27 October 2025 stated he had not yet formally declared a strike, he later told his father via telephone: ‘Well, I was starving, but I didn’t declare it.’
According to the For Human Rights project, Khristolyub Vegan began a dry hunger strike in January after being transferred from a minimum-security settlement colony to a general-regime facility, where he was immediately placed in isolation. Following nine days of striking, he was relocated to a general cell for over three months. His father, who spoke to him in early April, noted that his condition seemed stable. However, Khristolyub Vegan was shortly returned to the isolation unit, where he subsequently died.
Prison officials first notified the family of his death by telephone on 17 April. In 2025, Khristolyub Vegan had been sentenced to three years in a settlement colony over YouTube content featuring anti-Islamic remarks and assertions that the Soviet army had ‘plundered half of Europe’.
Following his sentencing, the preacher refused to surrender to authorities. On 13 October 2025, he held a solo protest in Voronezh with placards reading: ‘No to war’ and ‘Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, not kill them… Murderers shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.’ He was arrested, fined 30,000 roubles, and taken into custody for transfer to Settlement Colony No. 10. His imprisonment was later escalated to the general-regime IK-2 facility.
