ASTRA: Activist who criticised Islam, justified Nazism found hanged in Russian prison

A critic of Islam, Vegan Khristolyub Bozhiy, has been found hanged in his prison cell in Russia, according to his relatives.

A source says the deceased blogger and activist had “strained” relations with the administration of Penal Colony No. 2, and there was a “misunderstanding” with fellow inmates, ASTRA reports.

A criminal case has been opened on charges of negligence, though further details have not been disclosed.

It is also claimed that the deceased’s father does not believe the death was a suicide.

Khristolyub had been repeatedly placed in a punishment cell even before being transferred to IK-2, including for “incorrect posture,” his father told OVD-Info.

He reportedly feared that he could be “worn down” in prison.

News of the activist’s death in prison became known on April 17.

In February 2025, Khristolyub was sentenced to three years in a penal colony settlement on charges of “rehabilitation of Nazism” over two statements in a YouTube video, in which he said that “Stalin and Hitler divided Europe” and that “if veterans killed fascists, then they were also not right.”

He was also charged with “insulting the feelings of believers” over criticism of Islam and the Quran on YouTube.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov