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Alexander Titov, a 65-year-old resident of Leningrad region, has been remanded in custody on charges of “justifying terrorism” (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) because of comments he posted in a chat related to the Ukrainian Azov regiment. As his wife told OVD-Info, Titov did not attend his court hearing because he suffered an asthma attack.
While the investigation was underway, the elderly man was under restrictions on certain activities. On 21 October, the 1st Western District Military Court was due to begin the substantive hearing of his case, but Titov did not appear at the session.
“It’s very hard to get through an attack, there’s a fear of dying,” says the elderly man’s wife. “When he was able to, the first person he notified was his lawyer, and an ambulance was called.”
A medical note (available to OVD-Info) states that the ambulance arrived the next day and diagnosed Titov with encephalopathy. Nonetheless, on 6 November, Judge Evgeny Lazarev toughened his detention measure and sent him to a pre-trial detention centre (SIZO), even though in the past year he had not violated any of his restrictions and the prosecutor’s office had requested he be placed under house arrest.
Titov requires regular treatment for bronchial asthma and monitoring by doctors due to symptoms of encephalopathy. However, after a month in SIZO, no doctor has visited him.
Titov was diagnosed with bronchial asthma in the Leningrad Regional Clinical Hospital (document available to OVD-Info). Doctors recommended ongoing basic therapy (including formoterol and budesonide medications), further check-ups (CT scan of the chest, ECG, consultations with relevant specialists), and mandatory monitoring at his place of residence.
The elderly man has now spent a month in detention without essential medicines and without the inhaler that was confiscated by the court upon his arrest. His family has so far been unable to hand over the medicine. According to his wife, the SIZO doctor has not come to see Titov since 6 November, despite daily written requests.
A lawyer who visited Titov on 4 December noted a noticeable decrease in his hearing—a symptom that doctors had previously recorded as a potential complication. Overall his condition is stable, but without treatment there remains a risk of worsening.
Letters from her husband to the family stopped arriving on 8 November. Titov has two children, aged 8 and 12. “The children are very worried. Before they saw their father in court on 18 November, they cried, thinking he might die,” his wife said.
Titov was detained on criminal charges in August 2024. He was accused of justifying terrorism over comments he made in a Telegram channel dedicated to the Ukrainian Azov regiment. According to his wife, his comments were anti-war. She emphasised that Titov is a pacifist and does not support the ideology of terrorism.
In addition, in December 2024, the elderly man was fined 15,000 rubles (about US$170) in an administrative case for “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code) for a comment in which he called participants in the war in Ukraine “trash.” His wife said that Titov made the comment in a moment of emotion and admitted guilt, believing he was in the wrong.