Eldar Marchenko

A resident of Moscow, lecturer in sports management at RMA Business School. In 2022, wrote several columns for the independent paper "Vot Tak".

On August 1st 2024, FSB officers searched Marchenko's home without providing any documents permitting to do so. He was then taken for interrogation to the FSB Directorate in Lubyanka. On the way there, he was tortured with electricity, forcing him to sign a confession of working for the Ukrainian security services. Marchenko's defence filed an application about the use of torture to the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee, but received no response.

Immediately after that Marchenko was arrested several times in a row on administrative articles, he served the arrests in the Sakharovo detention centre for foreign citizens. On 2nd of August he was sentenced to 15 days under the article on petty hooliganism (part 2 of article 20.1 of the Administrative Code). According to the published court decision, Marchenko was swearing in the street and refused to show his passport to the police.

Immediately after the end of the first arrest, on August 17th, the teacher was again arrested for 15 days, this time under Part 1 of the same article. Marchenko was sentenced to a third arrest - 10 days - on September 2nd. In both cases, he was again allegedly swearing in a public place, this time near the Centre for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

On September 11th 2024, the man was again detained at the exit from the detention center for foreign citizens and taken to an unknown location. Later it turned out that he was taken to the State Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee. The next day Marchenko was taken into custody on charges of committing a terrorist act. In March 2025, TASS reported that, according to the case materials, Marchenko gave the coordinates of the airfield in Kursk to the AFU for strikes on it. Later it was reported that Marchenko was also accused of coordinating other strikes on Kursk, as well as on the Rostov region. It was alleged that his case was merged with the case of attacks on Rostov region in 2022, opened on February 19, 2022, under the articles on the organisation of mass murder in a generally dangerous manner by an organised group, attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer, illegal border crossing by an organised group, deliberate destruction of property motivated by hatred or enmity and commission of a terrorist act by an organised group with serious consequences (Marchenko was charged only with the latter article).

On 12th of August 2025, Marchenko was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime colony.

In March 2026, it became known that a case of high treason was opened against Marchenko.