Andrei Lazarenko

A resident of Mariupol. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he worked at Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, the city's main factories.

Lazarenko says in the summer of 2022 he was not allowed to return to Mariupol, from where he helped evacuate several women and a child, and was then forcibly taken to Donetsk, then to Taganrog and Mordovia. The Ukrainian also says he was forced to take Russian citizenship in November 2022. Lazarenko took a job as a janitor in the Mordovian village of Bolshiye Berezniki.

In 2023, a case of attempted state treason and terrorist act was opened against him. According to the investigation, Lazarenko was going to set fire to the military recruitment office in the village of Bolshiye Berezniki in agreement with the Ukrainian Azov regiment.

Early in the morning of October 15, 2023 Lazarenko was detained. According to the Ukrainian, unknown people put a bag on his head and took him to an unknown place, where he sat for more than a day with the same bag on his head and with his hands tied. The next day he was taken to court, which arrested him for 14 days on an administrative case of petty hooliganism.

After the threats of the FSB officer, Lazarenko made a confession in the criminal case. On October 29, the Ukrainian was officially detained in this case.

In court, Lazarenko pleaded not guilty and told the judge not only about the threats, but also about the fact that at the request of the FSB investigator he signed about 20 blank sheets and several more with notes: "I have signed and read the protocol".

On December 9, 2025, Lazarenko was sentenced to a 18-year term in a strict regime penal colony.