Sergey Porokhovoy

On 4 March 2011, operatives of the Northwestern Federal District Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the District Centre for Combatting Extremism conducted a search of Porokhovy’s home, after which he was effectively given the procedural status of a suspect. After the interrogation, he signed a recognizance not to leave the country. On 11 March 2011, Porokhovy was charged under part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Participation in the activities of an extremist organisation). The investigation claimed that in the summer of 2009, the defendant, together with other participants, resumed the activities of the National Bolshevik Party, banned in 2007. They allegedly held party meetings, collected contributions and “called for the resumption of the activities” of the organisation. On 24 November 2011, it was reported that Porokhovoy decided not to wait for the trial and left for Finland, where he applied for political asylum. He was then placed in a refugee centre. As of 6 November 2012, the case against Sergei Porokhovoy was split into separate proceedings because he left Russia to seek political asylum in Finland. On 11 July 2013, it was reported that the police in the Finnish city of Rovaniemi approved the request for political asylum submitted by Porokhovoy.

In May 2023, Porokhovoy returned to Russia, where he was detained and taken into custody and later released on personal recognizance. In August 2024, it was reported that Porokhovoy had died.