22 Facts About Olexandr Kolchenko

Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Kolchenko is a Ukrainian left-wing and trade union activist, antifascist, anarchist, ecologist, and archaeologist, who was convicted of terrorism by the Russian administration of Crimea in 2014.

On 7 September 2019 Olexandr Kolchenko was released in a prisoner swap.

Olexandr Kolchenko became a supporter of anarchist, antifascist and internationalist ideas.

Since 2007, Olexandr Kolchenko has been an active militant of the local antifascist movement.

Olexandr Kolchenko staged numerous street protests against manifestations of fascism in the region, and participated in clashes with both Ukrainian and pro-Russian far right.

Olexandr Kolchenko organized actions of solidarity with Russian antifascists who fell victims of the neo-Nazi terror or government repression, including Anastasia Baburova and Ivan Khutorskoy.

From 2010 to 2013, Olexandr Kolchenko was an active member of the independent trade union "Student Action" composed of socialists and anarchists advocating free education, student rights, and autonomy of universities.

Olexandr Kolchenko was involved to numerous events and public campaigns to protect workers' rights and the environment.

Olexandr Kolchenko was supporting the struggles of Crimean Trolleybus employees and protesting against construction of a contaminant port in Crimea.

Oleksandr Olexandr Kolchenko was detained on May 16,2014, in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine.

Olexandr Kolchenko was convicted of arson of the offices of Russian political organizations and planning the bombing of the Soviet Memorial monument in Crimea.

Olexandr Kolchenko fully admits to having held guard on the street while a Molotov cocktail was hurled at a building housing pro-Russian organizations, but denies that this was terrorism.

Olexandr Kolchenko refuted belonging to the political party Right Sector which is banned in Russia.

Olexandr Kolchenko has sent a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights against Russian citizenship forcibly having been conferred on him.

The highly politicized trial of Sentsov and Olexandr Kolchenko has resonated not only in Ukraine but worldwide.

Many prominent world organizations advocating human rights and democratic movement such as OSCE, US Mission to the OSCE, Amnesty International, International Federation of Human Rights, FIDH - Center for Civil Liberties Human Rights in Ukraine, Open Democracy, No Borders Network, European Trade Unions, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Group of Resistance to Political repressions in Russia have condemned political persecution of Olexandr Kolchenko and called for his release.

Olexandr Kolchenko's name was mentioned in an OSCE PA resolution condemning Russia's continuing actions in Ukraine.

The Active Generation: The web activists network, The Committee of Solidarity with the "Crimean hostages" and the International Solidarity Campaign for Oleksandr Olexandr Kolchenko run an ongoing multinational supporting campaign for the political prisoner.

The information about how to support Oleksandr Olexandr Kolchenko is available in German, Italian, French and Spanish.

Olexandr Kolchenko was open about his opposition to the occupation of Crimea by Russia, prompting a fierce reaction from the Russian authorities.

The sentencing of Olexandr Kolchenko was condemned by the US Department of State and the European Union.

Olexandr Kolchenko intends to appeal to the Supreme Court of Russia and to the European Court of Human Rights.