Andrei Verianov

Born in Rostov-on-Don, resident of Moscow. In 1992, he received a suspended sentence on charges of possession of drugs. In 1993, he left for Peru, where he worked in trade. He later worked as a translator in Moscow. According to his own words, he helped the victims and relatives of the victims of the Beslan school hostage crisis. In 2005, he went again to Peru, where he traded in antique weapons, and then became involved in ground-penetrating radar scanning, organised geophysical research using GPR and an expedition to study Inca structures. After returning to Russia, he did auxiliary work, translated for Spanish speakers, then went into construction. He was an active opponent of the war.

On 5 December 2023, he was detained on charges of high treason, after which he was placed in custody. In March 2025, it became known that he was also accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation. Initially, the media reported that, according to the investigation, on the instructions of representatives of the Russian Freedom Legion, he launched balloons with reflectors into the sky that would make it difficult for Russian air defence systems to operate. Later, the FSB officially presented its version: allegedly on the instructions of his supervisor, Verianov collected information about the location of air defence systems in the Moscow region, and then launched a drone to identify the weaknesses of these systems, and he was also instructed to blow up the plane of a high-ranking Russian official.

On 23 May 2025, Veryanov was sentenced to 24 years in a strict regime colony.