On December 10, Armenia’s Justice Ministry decided to extradite 53-year-old Vladimir Ukhalov to Russia. He has spent about six months in a Yerevan prison. In Russia, he is charged under Article 222.1 Part 1 with illegal possession of explosive substances: investigators say they seized 1.44 kilograms of gunpowder that had remained among the belongings of his late father, a licensed hunter.
Ukhalov, a mechanic who lived in the Urals after moving from Belgorod Region, says the prosecution is not really about the powder alone. According to him, after the start of the war he shared anti-war materials and criticized the FSB and Vladimir Putin on social media and in messengers.
Ukhalov says that after his detention on May 29, 2024, police beat him, searched his phone, and took special interest in contacts linked to Ukraine. He also says an FSB officer later urged him to cooperate and call a relative in Ukraine, hinting that anti-war messages could become grounds for a new criminal case.
In summer 2024, Ukhalov began preparing to leave Russia. In September he traveled through Kazakhstan to Yerevan. In November, the Russian case was suspended because he had fled; he was arrested in absentia and placed on an international wanted list. On March 30, 2025, he was detained at Zvartnots airport while trying to fly to Istanbul.
In April 2025, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office filed an extradition request. Ukhalov applied for political asylum in Armenia, but the migration service rejected him. His lawyers are now appealing both that refusal and the Justice Ministry’s extradition order. Lawyer Ani Chatinyan said a court hearing is expected in January.
Human rights defender Artur Sakunts said that an assessment by Memorial concluded that Ukhalov would face risks to his safety, life, and health if returned to Russia. If Armenian courts do not overturn the extradition, the defense plans to seek urgent measures from the European Court of Human Rights. Chatinyan added that extraditing political émigrés to Russia is not typical for Armenia, although detentions on Moscow’s requests happen regularly.