June 21, 2023

He Warned Police Would Kill Him. He is Dead


He Warned Police Would Kill Him. He is Dead
Anatoly Berezikov. Rimma Maslak, Twitter.

The anti-Kremlin activist Anatoly Berezikov was known in Rostov-on-Don as the man who rode his bike around town wearing nothing but shorts in the harsh winter, distributing anti-war pamphlets on his rides. Police detained and tortured him. Berezikov warned his lawyers he would be killed. He was found dead the day before he was to be released. Police quickly claimed he committed suicide.

Born in Shatura, Berezikov had a passion for noise music that led him to Rostov-on-Don's experimental music scene. He collaborated on noise synths with local music legend Papa Srapa (Eduard Srapionov) while making a living as a repairman. Berezikov didn't mention the war in his Telegram channel but attended protests calling for political prisoner Alexei Navalny's release and openly opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Bereznikov took part in the Ukrainian project Khochu Zhit (I Want to Live), putting up posters warning Russians of the consequences of enlisting in the army. That was when he was detained for "treason."

On May 11, the FSB raided Berezikov's home without explanation, destroyed his things, and beat and arrested him. While in custody, Berezikov reported the police's rape and death threats to his lawyer, Irina Gak, and to activist Tatyana Sporysheva. He also showed the women taser shock marks that guards had left behind with their abuse. According to Sporysheva, Berezikov said, "I'm scared they'll kill me, and I won't live to see my exit from the detention center, that is, I won't live to see June 15."

On June 14, when she arrived to visit her client, Gak was told that Berezikov was not in the detention center. Gak only learned her client was dead when she saw his body being carried to an ambulance.

On the day he died, Berezikov, known as Anatoly Ryk in the local music scene, was set to perform at Moscow's "Noise and Fury" festival.

 

 

You Might Also Like

Spring 2023
  • May 01, 2023

Spring 2023

The Evolving Language of War * A Defiant Teacher * A Hopeful Priest * A Village Stand-Off * A Trip to Ukraine * Books We Liked * Last Words of Convicted Dissenters
Dance Floor Dissent
  • May 26, 2023

Dance Floor Dissent

A video of people singing pro-Ukraine lyrics prompted government intervention.
Flagpole Ripper
  • April 13, 2023

Flagpole Ripper

A man was arrested for tearing down a Russian flag at a police department.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955