A Russian activist killed fighting for Ukraine

A Russian activist who exposed abuses in Russian prisons has died in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Ildar Dadin was fighting on the Ukrainian side and was killed during the fighting this weekend, various media reports.

So writing the BBC that Dadin was killed “in action”. Multiple sources confirmed his death to the British public broadcaster. According to the Civic Council, the group Dadin joined last year, “he was and still is a hero.” That group is made up of Russians who say they are “fighting against Putin’s regime for a better future for our motherland. “

Dadin died when the volunteer battalion he was fighting in came under Russian artillery fire in Kharkiv. No further details are known yet. The Civic Council does not wish to comment further to the BBC, as the military operation in north-east Ukraine is still ongoing.

Dadin was imprisoned in Russia years ago. In late 2015, he was jailed for three years for a series of peaceful solo protests against the Kremlin. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 2.5 years, after more than a year was releasedbecause the highest court in Russia ruled that the decision should be reconsidered.

The conviction of the Russian activist was based on a controversial law from 2014. That law was passed after mass protests against Putin and criminalized certain forms of protest. The law may have resulted in disproportionately high prison sentences. Russia’s highest court ruled in 2017 that this was indeed the case with Dadin.

Dadin wrote a book about his time in a Russian prison. He also managed to send messages from prison to go out. He said he was tortured by the prison guards.

The fight between Russia and Ukraine continues today. The Ukrainian army says it attacked an oil storage facility in Crimea, in Feodosia in Russia, last night.

Images of the damage after the attack are circulating on social media:

According to Ukraine, this concerns the destination where most of Crimea’s oil products are stored. These materials are used, among others, by the Russian army.

Russian authorities say a “technical emergency” has been declared as a result of a fire​​​​​​at an oil terminal in Feodosia. They did not say what caused the fire.