Ruslan Abasov, an activist from the Left Bloc, told Novaya Gazeta Europe that by 2021 he already faced four criminal cases. According to him, two cases in Vladimir concerned robbery and violence against a police officer, while two more in Moscow were linked to vandalism. He insists the accusations were fabricated or exaggerated and says the clashes with law enforcement grew out of repeated detentions.
The turning point was a protest outside the FSB building in Moscow on December 21, 2021. Several activists lit flares and displayed a banner reading “Happy Chekist Day.” Abasov and Lev Skoryakin were arrested afterward. Abasov says he held the banner with his face uncovered but did not throw the flare, though, in his account, that argument did not affect court decisions on his pretrial detention.
In July 2022, his detention was unexpectedly replaced with a ban on certain actions. Abasov links that both to a lack of evidence and to the work of his lawyers. After his release in October 2022, he left for Montenegro and later tried to move on to the European Union.
Abasov says that after applying for political asylum in Croatia, he was placed for six months in a closed refugee camp. He claims Croatian security services suspected him of possessing weapons, child pornography, supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and ties to radical Islamism, but did not show him any evidence.
“I understood that this was a dangerous action, I understood all the risks,” Abasov said of the protest outside the FSB building.
Abasov now lives in Serbia and works as a casino security guard. He says he sees the country as more convenient and safer for life than EU states, where, in his view, Russian émigrés also face pressure and restrictions.