Political prisoner Alexander Dotsenko dies in prison after suffering a massive heart attack

On Feb. 19, the support group for Russian political prisoners Anastasia Dyudyaeva and Alexander Dotsenko reported the death of Dotsenko. Details and the exact cause of death were not disclosed at the time.

“Sasha is no longer with us. He left us at 4:00 p.m.,” the support group wrote on their Telegram channel.

Earlier reports indicated that on Feb. 12, Dotsenko had suffered a massive heart attack. Neither his relatives nor his lawyer were informed about the incident at the time. Only after several days did the family learn that Dotsenko was in intensive care. On Feb. 17, doctors reduced his sedation, and Dotsenko began to regain partial consciousness. However, his condition soon worsened, with the doctors noting serious complications that included cardiac arrhythmia. On Feb. 18, Dotsenko was placed in a medically induced coma, with his condition assessed as critical.

Dotsekno’s lawyer emphasized that the Federal Penitentiary Service had failed to promptly inform either Dotsenko’s family or his legal defense about the incident.

A native of Ukraine and a Russian citizen, Alexander Leonidovich Dotsenko was born on May 14, 1960. He was a retiree and a jewelry artist, living in the suburban town of Taytsy outside St. Petersburg, when he was taken into custody on Jan. 24, 2024. On July 18, 2024, a court sentenced him to three years in a settlement-type penal colony after finding him guilty of making “public calls for terrorism.”

Dotsenko and his wife, Anastasia Dyudyaeva, were found guilty in the case concerning anti-war postcards that were left in the Lenta supermarket in St. Petersburg. The investigation claimed that in December 2023, they placed homemade postcards featuring a poem in Ukrainian. The convicted couple did not admit their guilt.

The Memorial human rights project recognized Alexander Dotsenko and Anastasia Dyudyaeva as political prisoners. The project’s statement noted that the couple’s prosecution was linked to their anti-war stance, and that the punishment imposed on them was disproportionate to the alleged offense.