Ilya Chubukov

Resident of Kaliningrad, software engineer. In September 2023, a vandalism case was opened against him on suspicion of setting fire to a Z-shaped installation in Belgorod and possession of explosives. Chubukov said he was tortured: when he was arrested, he was handcuffed and a bag was put over his head, he was punched in the face and other parts of his body and asked if he had a "curator", after which he was tortured with a stun gun and a blowtorch for 4 or 5 hours, as well as beaten and threatened with serious injuries. "I was periodically dragged in and out of the car, physical force was used, a stun gun was used, with which I was electrocuted more than 200 times ... The handcuffs on my hands were tightened so much that I had haematomas. A wooden object was placed under my feet and one of the men with an axe threatened to chop off my legs, but they did not. I realised that I was being intimidated in this way. The men also used a blowtorch, which was brought to my back area on my naked body. In total, they hit me with more than 50 blows with hands and feet on various parts of my body. At one point, they poured some flammable mixture on my legs and told me that they were going to set my legs on fire. Also, more than once my feet were doused with water, to which they immediately brought a stun gun, and it was much more painful for me", - "Novaya Vkladka" quotes the story of the Kaliningrad resident. During the torture, he was asked about his "curators". In this way, he was made to confess that he did not want to live in Russia and had a negative attitude towards the politics and ideology of the Russian state; the confession was recorded on video. Initially, Chubukov was given a measure of restraint in the form of signing a covenant not to leave, but was not released immediately afterwards and continued to be held in the police station until the evening of 20 September. Then the detention was registered under the second criminal case, in the framework of which the Kaliningrad resident was placed in a temporary detention centre. Later the court sent him to custody. On 21 January 2025, Chubukov was sentenced to six and a half years and a fine of 50 thousand rubles.