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On the evening of 1 May, Ivan Lyubshin, a resident of Kaluga (a city southwest of Moscow), was detained at Minsk airport, from where he was planning to fly to Armenia in order to emigrate to France. He himself told OVD-Info about this.
The man was supposed to fly out at midnight, but two hours before the departure, he was detained by Belarusian border guards. They handed him over to local police, and the next day he was passed on to KGB officers. They took him to Russia, after which Lyubshin was detained by Kaluga police operatives.
He is facing a criminal case for evading administrative supervision (part 1, article 314.1 of the Criminal Code). On 3 May, Lyubshin was questioned by an investigator. He gave a confession.
The Kaluga resident fears that he could be accused of attempting to go to Ukraine—security officers have mentioned this. He provided them with all his documents related to his plans to emigrate to France. Lyubshin told OVD-Info that he had already been granted a French humanitarian visa and was supposed to collect it at the French embassy in Yerevan on 6 May. He had also bought an airline ticket from Yerevan to Paris and booked a hotel.
As part of the criminal case, Lyubshin’s home was searched. He noted that FSB officers attended the search. He was also made to sign a document restricting him from leaving the Kaluga region. The investigator handed him a summons to appear today, 4 May, at 10 am.
However, Lyubshin could not attend, as security officers have not released him so far. Instead, he was issued with a protocol for petty hooliganism (article 20.1 of the Administrative Offences Code). He was accused of swearing in a public place and ignoring remarks from passers-by. Lyubshin says that since he was handed over to Russian security officers, he has been constantly under their supervision.
The man was taken to Kaluga District Court, where he is awaiting consideration of the protocol.
In March 2025, Lyubshin was released from prison. After this, he was required to remain under administrative supervision for another eight years: to report regularly to the police, not leave his home at night, and not leave the region without the permission of the authorities.
17:26 Judge Aleksandr Senkin sentenced Lyubshin to 12 days’ detention, the detainee himself told OVD-Info.
In court, the Kaluga resident learned that the case file contained testimony from an alleged witness who claimed that he was swearing in the stairwell at 294 Moskovskaya Street. This building houses a public service centre, and the neighbouring building (294a) previously housed the Centre “E.”
- In 2020, Lyubshin was sentenced to five years and two months in prison on charges of justifying terrorism (part 2, article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). He was convicted for a comment in which he called 17-year-old Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who detonated a bomb in the FSB building in Arkhangelsk region, “the hero of the week at the very least.” “I meant that he became a hero in the news. They made it out as if he was ‘an outright hero,’” the man later said.
- Lyubshin said that after being detained in that case, FSB officers tortured him with a stun gun, beat him, and also threatened to kill him and bury him in the forest.