November 12, 2024

Punk in Russia, Prisoner in Kazakhstan


Punk in Russia, Prisoner in Kazakhstan
Punk musician Aikhal Ammosov with his luggage in Germany. Publichnye Prisyry, Telegram.

After a year in prison due to a Russian extradition order, Kazakh authorities released Yakut punk musician and anti-war activist Aikhal Ammosov. On November 9, he announced he had arrived in Germany. 

Aikhal Ammosov, whose passport name is Igor Ivanov, was not involved in politics until suspicion arose that Russia might invade Ukraine. The musician betted with a friend that there would be a war. He won two pizzas at the time, but lost far more in the long run.

The punk band Crispy Newspaper's leader began leading anti-war protests in Yakutia. Ammosov graffitied walls with "No to War" in three languages. He put a banner "Yakut Punk Against War" on a swimming pool roof. He distributed pamphlets saying, "Get your hands dirty with paint, not blood."

The anti-colonial activist, wearing all-black attire, sunglasses, and a mask, photographed himself in front of a funerary home with the sign "The grooms have arrived" and a picture of a casket. The stunt referenced the 2007 movie Gruz 200 (Cargo 200), directed by Alexey Balabanov.

In 2022, Ammosov was charged with "discrediting the army." At the start of his trial, he posed in front of the city court of Yakutsk wearing his signature all-black outfit, raising his fist. Shortly after, he fled to Kazakhstan.

After Ammosov arrived in Kazakhstan, authorities refused to grant him refugee status. Back in Russia, authorities opened a case against Ammosov in absentia for "justifying terrorism." Since the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan includes a similar law as the Russian one against "discrediting the army," authorities in Russia filed for his extradition. In October 2022, the punk musician was detained in Almaty. 

Ammosov's letters from custody in Kazakhstan described how his health deteriorated in jail from poor nutrition. He witnessed riots and went on a hunger strike with fellow prisoners. The activist also recalled how guards abandoned prisoners during an earthquake in Almaty. Consequently, a revolt ensued, resulting in many detainees being placed in solitary confinement. Ammosov was spared that fate, thanks to other prisoners defending him.

Upon his release, Ammosov fled to Germany on a humanitarian visa, which he obtained with the assistance of human rights activists.

You Might Also Like

A Pro-War Childhood?
  • October 31, 2024

A Pro-War Childhood?

Russian children are being instilled with militant patriotism through plays, stories, cartoons, and toys.
Forced to Be Sorry
  • September 24, 2024

Forced to Be Sorry

In 2024, Russians publish public video apologies every two days.
Baikal, not Bali
  • July 10, 2024

Baikal, not Bali

The State Duma has banned Russian deputies and senators from traveling abroad without permission.
Small-Town Russia and the War
  • July 02, 2024

Small-Town Russia and the War

Sociologists spent a month living in small-town Russia to understand how Russians feel about the war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

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.

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.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

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.

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.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, 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