A picketer in Yerevan called for the release of a man arrested in the Tyumen case.

Activist Alexander Sherchenkov held a solo picket outside the Russian embassy in Armenia in support of Nikita Oleynik, who was arrested in Russia in connection with the "Tyumen case."

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," St. Petersburg activist Alexander Sherchenkov has repeatedly held pickets outside the Russian embassy in Yerevan demanding the release of prisoners in Russia, whose prosecution he considers unjust. On July 26, 2025, he held a picket in support of Alexei Rozhkov, convicted in Yekaterinburg of attempting to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office.

On February 7, Alexander Sherchenkov held a solo picket near the Russian embassy in Yerevan in support of Nikita Oleynik, arrested in the "Tyumen case," RusNews reports.

The publication is illustrated with a photograph of Sherchenkov standing on a city street with a sign reading "Freedom for Nikita Oleynik." No other people are visible in the frame.

Security officials believe Nikita Oleynik is the organizer of a terrorist organization that planned to detonate an improvised explosive device near a thermal power plant in Tyumen. Oleynik and five of his acquaintances from Tyumen, Surgut, and Yekaterinburg were detained in 2022, 86.ru reported on October 26, 2022.

Oleynik told the publication that he does not consider himself the organizer of a terrorist organization and "completely disagrees" with the charges. He also claimed to have been tortured.

"Physical and mental torture was used against me and my so-called 'accomplices,' in quotes. We were shocked and had a bag put over our heads. I spent two days in the bag. That is, for two days I couldn't breathe normally. In the same condition, shackled, in a bag, I traveled in a passenger vehicle from Surgut to Tyumen," the publication quoted him as saying.

18:30 07.03.2024

Human rights activists consider the South Caucasus an unreliable refuge for Russians

Armenia and Georgia are not a reliable refuge for those who left Russia for political reasons, as they are heavily influenced by Russian intelligence services and pose a risk of extradition, according to Russian human rights activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot."

As a reminder, Alexander Sherchenkov is an activist and anarchist who held solo pickets in front of the Russian embassy in Armenia in 2024. He flew to Yerevan from St. Petersburg in June 2022 after facing the risk of criminal prosecution for discrediting the army. This risk was related to Sherchenkov's repeated appearances at protests with a poster containing a pacifist slogan, according to Lava Media, a Russian-language publication in Armenia, on December 24, 2024. At the end of February 2022, following the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the flow of people leaving Russia increased. Armenia became one of the destination countries, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Why did Russians go to Armenia?".

An increase in the number of Russian citizens traveling to Armenia was also recorded in September-October 2022, after the announcement of mobilization in Russia. In the first 10 months of 2022, 1.4 million people arrived in Armenia, and almost half of them were Russian citizens.