Former military man Maxim Ivannikov* from Chita spoke about being beaten and tortured with electricity after being detained on charges of "treason," excerpts from his letters were published by the publication "People of Baikal".
The 38-year-old Ivannikov, who graduated from the Transbaikal Pedagogical University with a degree in "art teacher," served under contract for ten years and resigned in 2020, was sentenced in April. He was given 15 years in prison.
In addition to "treason," he was also tried under articles for "calls for extremism" on the internet, "participation in the activities of a terrorist organization," and "aiding terrorism."
According to the investigation, Ivannikov maintained "contact with terrorists controlled by Ukrainian special services," "called for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order," and "leaked data of a military participant in the SVO to special services."
According to Ivannikov's wife Diana, the case was initiated because of his "sarcastic" comment in a telegram channel of "some organization" with the words "I propose joining the partisans and undermining the regime from within." In letters from detention, the man from Chita wrote that he did not participate in any "partisan" movement, "of course," and gave confessions after torture.
On the morning of April 29, 2024, Maxim Ivannikov was holding his two-month-old daughter Alisa when masked men burst into the apartment. The security forces ordered him to put the child down, handcuffed Ivannikov, and took him out of the house with a bag over his head. As he himself writes, they began to torture him as soon as they put him in the service van. "They threw me on the floor," he recalls in his letter. "Two or three pressed down from above. And the torture began. Everything in my head turned upside down, everything started spinning."
The security forces connected electrodes to his legs and began asking questions. The journey to the FSB department takes no more than five minutes, but according to Ivannikov, they "drove around deserted places for a long time so that the groans and screams would not scare law-abiding citizens." In the FSB building where he was taken, the torture continued. From constant blows and shock, he lost the ability to think clearly. His memory failed—he forgot facts, confused dates, and could not recall the necessary information. But every time he gave the "wrong" answer, new beatings began. He felt worse, and the only thing he wanted was for it to end.
Then he was forced to read a pre-prepared text against the background of the tricolor, stating that he "admits his guilt and renounces the partisan movement." The security forces also demanded that he say on camera that he had no complaints against the capture group, and then they took him for a medical examination, threatening new beatings if he started complaining to the doctors. As a result, the traces of beatings were not documented on the man from Chita.
The investigation and trial lasted a year, which the man from Chita spent in a pre-trial detention center, after which he received 15 years. "He criticized the authorities and did not support the SVO, but we did not attach importance to his comments on the internet," his wife Diana told the publication about the charges and the case itself.
* Included in the list of "terrorists and extremists."