Yuriy Mikhailovich Chervochkin (russian: Юрий Михайлович Червочкин; 31 December 1984 – 10 December 2007) was a Russian

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

activist. He was murdered at the age of 22. His case shook

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n opposition because he was attacked two days before

Dissenters' March The Dissenters' March (russian: Марш несогласных) was a series of Russian opposition protests that took place on December 16, 2006 in Moscow, on March 3, 2007 in Saint Petersburg, on March 24 in Nizhny Novgorod, on April 14 for t ...

and some observers remained convinced that perpetrators of the crime were members of

n Militsiya.

Oppositional activities

In 2006, Chervochkin founded a branch of the

National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of Nat ...

in Serpukhov. On 2 October 2006 Chervochkin had been part of a group of 50 national-bolsheviks detained while trying to pass the State Duma in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. On 11 March 2007 Chervochkin had participated in direct action in a polling station in

Odintsovo Odintsovo ( rus, Одинцово, , ɐdʲɪnˈtsovə) is a city and the administrative center of Odintsovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Western suburb of Moscow. Population: History The village of Odintsovo was established in the late ...

to protest against election rigging. Chervochkin was arrested during the action and was placed under arrest for a month. On 11 June 2007 he was beaten by the militsiya and arrested for 5 days. Chevochkin was repeatedly detained during the

es.

Murder

22 November 2007 Chervochkin called a journalist hours before his attack and claimed he was being chased by the militsiya (UBOP), who had repeatedly detained and interrogated him earlier.Алексей Сочне�
Нет рычагов
/ref> According to some sources, he reported the same to his bride to be (the leader of National Bolsheviks of Tula Anna Ploskonosova), accusing an officer of militsiya, Alexey Okopny, of being behind it. In the evening he was beaten on the head with a baseball bat. Diagnosis explained an open brain injury and a fracture of the skull base. Chervochkin fell into coma. On 11 December 2007 Yuri Chervochkin died in hospital.

Investigation

The perpetrators of the crime have never been found. Two investigations, carried out by the local prosecutor's office, stalled and finally ended, due to lack of evidence.

Reactions

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

and

Eduard Limonov Eduard Veniaminovich Savenko ( rus, Эдуард Вениаминович Савенко, , ɨdʊˈart vʲɪnʲɪɐˈmʲinəvʲɪtɕ sɐˈvʲenkə, links=yes; 22 February 1943 – 17 March 2020), known by his pen name Eduard Limonov ( rus, Эд ...

participated in his funeral. On 19 December 2007

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian activists picketed the Russian Embassy in memory of Yuriy Chervochkin. On 17 January 2008 Russian opposition groups

Oborona Russian Youth Movement "Oborona" (russian: Российское молодёжное движение «Оборона»; ''Rossiyskoye molodozhnoye dvizheniye «Oborona»'') (Russian for "Defense") is a non-partisan civic youth movement in Russia ...

, NBP, RNDS,

AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduc ...

protested in Moscow against the murder of Yuriy Chervochkin.

Opposition and Chervochkin's family version

Chervochkin's family, friends and political comrades remained convinced that Chervochkin was the victim of

n Militsiya. Some of observers believed that the attack may have been motivated by his political activism. Direct responsible for murder they call Department of fight against extremism of Office of fight against organized crime (UBOP) of the Moscow region and personally the chief of this department Alexey Okopny. According to them, Okopny repeatedly detained also interrogated Chervochkin; also shortly before murder Chervochkin reported that Okopny by phone threatened to break to it the head.Сотрудник Центра «Э» Окопный взял в плен сына активиста «Другой России»
On 18 October 2012 Okopny brought an action against one of party leaders « Other Russia» (the former National Bolshevik Party) Sergei Aksenov and civil activist Pavel Shechtman, demanding a denial of statements about his participation in murder. December 6, 2012 the court sentenced Aksenov and Schechtman to a fine (in 40 and 50 thousand roubles), but did not require them to publish a refutation of charges A few days later, Pavel Shechtman published the article "The Story of a Murder", in which Okopny newly is accused of involvement in the murder, based this time on the materials of the judicial process.

References

External links

Interview with Chervochkin's mother
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chervochkin, Yuriy 1984 births 2007 deaths 2007 murders in Russia Assassinated activists Assassinated Russian politicians Assassinations in Russia Deaths by beating in Europe Deaths by person in Russia Deaths from head injury Murdered students National Bolshevik Party politicians People murdered in Russia Russian murder victims Russian political activists Unsolved murders in Russia